The Red Dragon's Saber
by Captain Bell
Summary: When Issei calls out for someone to save Asia, it results in a cosmic alignment of chance that reaches Artoria in Avalon. With Shirou's wish to save others as her inspiration, the former king enters a new world as the Servant of the Red Dragon Emperor. [No Crossover Pairing]
1. Waiting for a Miracle

**Author's Notes**

 **Hello, this is Captain Bell. Thank you for your interest in my work.**

 **This story represents a difficult challenge for me, so I hope you find it enjoyable.**

 **Traditional disclaimer: I do not own the Fate series or High School DxD.**

 **EDIT: Since several reviewers have asked, I would like to state that Artoria and Issei do not share a romance in this story.**

 **Let us begin.**

* * *

 **THE RED DRAGON'S SABER**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Waiting for a Miracle**

* * *

Avalon, the Everdistant Utopia.

The final resting place of the legendary King Arthur is not a common afterlife, a return to the cycle of reincarnation, or even the Throne of Heroes to which incredibly accomplished mortals usually ascend. Outside the normal conventions of time and space, the Land of the Fairies hosts the Once and Future King's soul after her death. This magical place bears the same name as the sheath of the king's legendary sword, Avalon. The land serves as a reflection of Arthur's dream for a perfect kingdom, and according to legend it grants the weary monarch her well-deserved rest.

Artoria Pendragon does not receive much rest.

The oath of the king has been upheld, so Artoria is no longer bound to project the identity of the male Arthur Pendragon to anyone. There are no witnesses in Avalon for whom the lone human soul needs to play a part. The persona of the King of Britain has receded enough to make room for the girl she might have been, had Artoria never pulled the Sword of Selection from the stone. Still, while those two facets of the legendary figure's personality may be permanently intermingled now, a powerful wish of the feminine side dominates her mind: to be reunited with her love.

Artoria waits.

The just reward owed to Artoria after she fulfilled her duty as the king: a girl's right to live happily. This promise is what occupies Artoria now. The hero's reward, however, has been withheld for a long time. Regardless of what might be just, or what Artoria deserves, the girl's wish will only be granted to her by the occurrence of two separate miracles.

One must keep waiting, and another must keep pursuing.

Avalon offers a different kind of reward to the heroic soul with each passing second. The utopia around the girl can ease her mind and soul at any time. As a certain magus once told the future king, dreams are more beautiful if they stay as dreams. If Artoria ever allows it, even for a moment, she will be lulled into an eternal deathlike sleep by the enchantment of the domain she resides in. Within this rest Artoria will be spared all burdens and forever experience the peace she has always desired, all without the need to wait for anyone.

Artoria waits.

Artoria does not listen to the sleepy whispers of Avalon. The girl waits because she believes in her love. Even though the man does not know his miraculous reunion with Artoria depends upon them both, he will surely continue to pursue his ideals and reach her; this is the extent of the girl's faith in Shirou Emiya.

Though their acquaintance was short, the bond of a Servant and a Master can be greater than the best of friends, the closest of families, and even the most intimate of lovers. Through the ritual of Fuyuki City's Holy Grail War, Artoria and Shirou experienced each other's lives at their best and their worst, and they fought alongside one another in situations that could have destroyed them at any turn. Though it would separate them, neither could be true to themselves and not fulfill their duty to destroy the corrupted Grail before it killed humanity. Even so, neither could either one deny their love for the other by the end.

So Artoria waits. No matter how many centuries must pass for her to see Shirou once more, Artoria will always wait.

Still, nobody ever said how the girl must spend her time while she waits.

 _ **"Asia!"**_

Artoria's green eyes snap wide open.

"Shirou?"

Although the king's indomitable will allows her to resist the temptation of sleep, she still spends most of her time in a slight daze. There are centuries to wait, after all, and no other denizens of the Faerie Land around to interact with. The lack of company is all the more reason why this sudden echo of a voice alerts Artoria to something being wrong. The girl did not expect to be roused by someone until the time of her reunion, but it takes only a moment for her to understand the voice she heard does not come from her beloved.

Artoria climbs to her feet from the soft grass which serves as her latest bed. The young woman is garbed in an elegant white dress which covers her almost entirely, and her fine blonde hair falls loosely around her shoulders as she moves. The former king searches around her, but only the same gorgeous and unoccupied natural landscape she has always seen greets her on all sides. The sea of grass set between distant mountains and far-off green forests offers no answer to the girl's current question.

The sunshine lights the fields beautifully, the gentle breeze and the sweet scents carried on it are unchanged from how they have been every time Artoria chooses to explore Avalon and enjoy its conscious pleasures. There is no sign of a disturbance, which is to be expected. Avalon is a realm separated from the rest of reality. No corruption, no pollution, and no curse from any land can possibly enter here. There is no such thing as an intruder in Avalon, only those who are allowed to exist there can enter.

So whose voice is it?

 _ **"Let go of me!"**_

The voice yells again, its sound garbled. It is almost as if Artoria is hearing the call through water, though the words themselves are understandable. The blonde spins around but there is still no source to be found. It is impossible for anyone to project their voice into Avalon, after all. It isn't a matter of power or knowledge, the immutable laws of creation itself forbid any trespass here. No matter what Artoria knows should be true, though, the girl can't delude herself into thinking she didn't just hear a young man scream out in desperation.

Artoria is sure it is not Shirou who calls to her now, but she is surprised to recognize the masculine voice she hears speaks Japanese. The coincidence is a concern, if only because it makes the girl wonder if this voice does have some tangential connection to the Japanese boy she waits for.

 _ **"I have to save Asia! Let go of me!"**_

 _'Save?'_

Artoria reels in surprise again. To save people is Shirou's reason to live. The voice the girl hears now, it belongs to someone else who wants to save another.

 _'But the voice does not come from anywhere in or outside of Avalon. It is coming from...'_

Green eyes turned downward and gaze at the white-clothed form of Artoria's body.

 _'... within me?'_

It is nearly inconceivable, but also one of the only explanations Artoria can fathom for how anybody's words have managed to reach her in this place of rest. Someone out there, maybe from her own world, maybe from one of infinite parallel realities, is resonating with Artoria's very being. The pleas echo in the blonde's ears but do not actually reach Avalon from outside it. Through a connection the King of Knights can only now begin to guess at the identity of, her own body and soul resonate with an outside source and produce the voice on their own.

Is it another version of her? Perhaps a King Arthur who had actually been born male? This guess is the most likely option Artoria can think of, though the possibilities are technically infinite. Being outside of time as she is, Artoria theoretically has all the time she wants to think the puzzle over. To do so might even be a way to keep herself occupied for a while as she waits for her two miracles to occur. The idea is set aside when the voice begins to bubble up from within the girl once more, this time even more desperately than before.

 _ **"Someone! Anyone!"**_

Artoria turns her eyes up and looks at the soft clouds above. The girl can tell the voice no longer calls out in despair. Now it calls out for help.

 _ **"Please save her!"**_

Artoria closes her eyes.

One must keep waiting. This is the role of the king who wishes to receive a young girl's happy life as her ultimate reward. Artoria will never turn her back on Shirou, not when she knows he will pursue her forever if he has to.

 _'But how can I ever face you again,'_ the girl finally thinks as a fond smile graces her lips. _'If I don't try to help someone who needs to be saved?'_

In all the incalculable variations of existence in the multiverse, one of them has managed to reach out to this Artoria in this Avalon with a genuine cry for help. The odds for such an occurrence go far beyond unlikely; unfortunately, the odds Artoria can find a way to actually offer her help to this unknown boy are even lower. Since the hero is already dead and has no magic to wield, King Arthur is nearly as trapped within Avalon now as all else is trapped outside of it. Deciding to help does not mean the girl has any means to do so, only the will to try.

It is to Artoria's benefit that she does not feel rushed. The convoluted flow of time between the dimensions means little to the girl while she is in Avalon, so she can afford to stop and consider her options. Artoria once more adopts the mentality of a king with an operation to plan and thinks through what she has available to work with.

 _'Whoever called out was able to resonate with my being directly,'_ Artoria reasons as she crosses her arms. _'It is highly unlikely they are a mundane person for such a phenomenon to occur, no matter what the connection we share is. A magus, then, or perhaps a Heroic Spirit. Any type of supernatural creature would be more likely than an ordinary person.'_

Artoria cups her chin as she opens her eyes to view the rich green grass at her feet. The blonde contemplates further while using the scenery as visual stimulation.

 _'My only previous means of traversing parallel realities was my contract with the World,'_ the king reminds herself.

The World, the personification of Earth's reality, can grant great gifts in exchange for a promise to protect humanity after death. These bargains are the source of many legendary heroes' abilities. Though Artoria became a hero with only her own effort, the deal to enter the Throne of Heroes as an eternal guardian of humanity in exchange for the opportunity to retrieve the Holy Grail with her own hands led Artoria to become the Servant Saber in the Holy Grail Wars. Artoria hoped she could use the Grail to wish away all her failures, but Shirou made her believe changing the past would be a mistake.

 _'I severed the contract when I destroyed the Grail of my own free will.'_

The blonde blinks her green eyes as a sudden, incredulous thought occurs to her. The girl turns her gaze skyward once more, her arms drifting down to hang at her sides.

 _'But the reason I have time to think about a way to help is because I exist outside of normal time. Somewhere out there, another Artoria is certainly still contracted to receive unlimited opportunities to find the Holy Grail.'_

This train of thought is truly audacious, especially since there is no telling how the World might react, but the longer she tries to think of another option the more Artoria begins to accept she has no other tools available to her. The spirit's one chance to answer the mysterious call is to attempt to connect herself to one of the still-valid Heroic Spirit contracts of another King Arthur.

After a short time the girl puts one knee down on the grass and lays a hand on the fertile earth. To accept this risk is no small feat, but Artoria has always been decisive. The king stares at the back of her hand while she crouches, her imagination running through the countless possible consequences of her plan.

"For this to work, you will need to be in a world with a Holy Grail so the contract is valid," Artoria speaks aloud. Even though the girl's own voice is unlikely to reach the one who has unknowingly entreated her, Artoria still says her piece out of respect for the stranger's incredible feat. "I will also require a magic circle nearby, one suitable for the summoning, in order to reach you. If fate has truly allowed such an unlikely pathway to your side to exist, then I will take up the oath once more and fulfill your wish."

Her promise made, the spirit closes her eyes and shifts her mental landscape. No longer is Artoria a girl in the peaceful utopia of Avalon, now she is once again King Arthur on the battlefield of Camlann. The king forces her mental state to resume its old form, one of a fatally wounded mortal who is frozen in time and waits only for the next chance the World provides to summon her to a new time and place so she may pursue her final quest.

Artoria makes herself susceptible to the influence of the World and allows the bonds of her old contract to take precedence in her mind. At the same time, the girl also focuses on the resonance of the voice as it echoed through her core in the hope she can influence the World's choices. The spirit being pulled into a completely different place to seek a completely different Grail than the one she wants is a genuine risk, but the memory of Shirou Emiya pushes the hero to take this chance.

There is no action the king can take to make her more likely to reach her goal. Once more, all Artoria can do is wait. Wait, and believe.

Fortunately, waiting is something the girl has a lot of experience in.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

Artoria doesn't know how long has passed for her between when she began to submit herself to the old contract and now. The time could have been measured in seconds or years within Avalon itself. The girl only knows something has changed when her body is suddenly no longer in Avalon. A sensation of absolute freedom from natural forces overtakes the girl before all her experiences and consciousness become lost in a sea of stimuli no human mind is meant to perceive. Artoria has gone through this several times before, so she knows immediately what is happening.

King Arthur has been summoned.

Artoria's soul traverses the space between realities. The spirit is brought forth by the two cooperating powers of the World and the Holy Grail of another dimension. These forces use an individual's call for aid as the trigger, and an available magic circle as the medium through which to express the ritual. Against all odds, the king has been chosen to answer the summons of the boy whose voice reached out to her.

It is almost like fate.

 _'I'm going to go pass some time while I wait for you, Shirou,'_ the girl thinks with fondness as her body is transformed into a new, tangible form. _'Don't worry, I'll be back before you get home.'_

Artoria bursts forth into a new reality with a final promise to always wait for her love, no matter where she might physically be.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

A brief flash of brilliant light precedes the emergence of the fully-armored King of Knights. Green eyes, stern with intent, survey the new world Artoria finds herself in. The king's keen tactical mind immediately catalogs what she can see into the relevant and the irrelevant.

Artoria has clearly been summoned into the middle of a conflict, and she is surrounded on all sides.

The girl prepares herself for what comes next. The situation the spirit has been called into is dangerous, and she lacks any context with which to discern the best course of action. The only question Artoria has time to answer after her assessment of the area and its occupants is complete is this: what will she do first?

After a moment of thought, the former Servant of the Sword finds no reason not to continue her previous tradition.

"I ask you..."

* * *

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **This concludes the introduction to** ** _The Red_** ** _Dragon's Saber_** **.**

 **I considered whether to include more in the first chapter, but I think this serves as a strong setup for things to come. Future chapters are likely to be longer than this introduction ended up being.**

 **If the premise intrigues you and my writing was satisfactory then I hope you will continue to follow this story in the future.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Captain Bell**


	2. Master and Servant

**Author's Notes**

 **Welcome back to** ** _The Red Dragon's Saber_** **. It's been a while. My other stories took up more time than I expected them to. Still, I didn't want to leave this story alone for too long. I'm quite fond of it.**

 **My thanks goes out to the Beta Readers of this chapter: Andivia, striberx, and ekaterina016. Their perspectives were very welcome.**

 **Without further ado, let us begin.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Master and Servant**

* * *

At this point, Issei Hyoudou isn't sure how many more bad days in a row he will be able to survive.

Okay, admittedly, the brunet in question didn't actually survive the first one. There's more on the line than just the teenager's own life this time, though.

Lost in thought as he is, Issei barely notices the small twitch of Koneko's nose. The petite girl holds an entire club chair over her head as she appears to detect some new scent in the air. All present take notice when Koneko makes the soft announcement to follow.

"Fallen angels incoming."

Despite his wounds, Issei's blood chills at the white-haired girl's words. Fallen angels have attacked the newly-reincarnated devil three times in as many days. While the boy's record against his enemies has technically improved with each encounter (from being killed, to being grievously injured, to being spared), the constant assaults have left the second-year student more than a little shell-shocked.

Nearby, a deranged man in dark priest garb laughs cruelly. Freed Sellzen may not be a fallen angel, but Issei's newest injuries at the man's hands are no less traumatic. The rogue exorcist's weapons are held at the ready, a sword of white light in his right hand and a pistol filled with blessed rounds in his left. Each one is poison to a devil, and both of them currently burn inside Issei.

"The tables are turning, huh!?" the pale-haired exorcist yells. "You guys are all gonna be eating light spears!"

Just a moment ago, Freed was cowed by the dangerous weight of power exhibited by Rias Gremory. The high-class devil came here to save her newest servant from being killed again. Now, as a purple swirl of energy ripples into existence on the ceiling above the mad killer, Freed's lust for battle returns. Just as Koneko detected, the albino murderer is about to receive reinforcements from his fallen angel allies.

Behind Rias, Issei kneels in pain. Blood leaks rapidly from the bullet hole through the teen's left leg and the sliced-open gash on his back. Even worse than the blood loss is the light contaminating the devil's body, since it leaves him mostly incapacitated. Issei desperately wants to stand, to fight by the side of his allies, but he can't quite make the transition from desire to action anymore.

The young man squeezes his knees in frustration. As Issei's fingers bite into his skin through his pants, the red gauntlet on his left arm draws the devil's eye. The armor, which Rias taught Issei to summon from within himself, supposedly has great power. Unfortunately, aside from one lucky punch, the Sacred Gear didn't seem to help much in the fight against Freed.

 _'I've got to do something,'_ the boy chides himself.

"Right now, retrieving Issei comes first," Rias declares. Behind the redhead, Issei once again struggles against the pain his body is wracked with and fails to stand up. "Akeno, prepare to jump. Koneko, you get Issei."

Akeno Himejima responds with an affirmative. The brunette proceeds to summon forth a magic circle made of red light, filled with arcane patterns and symbols.

Koneko Toujou emphasizes her acceptance of the order with the chair over her head. The girl hurls the object at Freed to knock the enemy down and keep him occupied while she retrieves her newest ally.

Yuuto Kiba needs no additional order to take up a defensive stance and guard his companions as they move. The blond swordsman looks ready to react to any pursuit.

Issei soon finds himself swept up in Koneko's arms and thrown over the smaller devil's right shoulder. When the brunet looks around he can see Koneko, Rias, Akeno, and Yuuto have all gathered inside the magic circle. All the devils have turned their backs on the room, but because of the way Koneko holds Issei he also catches sight of the other figure who will be left behind.

Asia Argento.

The blonde nun still lies on the floor, sprawled out where Freed threw her down and kicked her earlier. Asia's large green eyes shine in the red glow of Akeno's magic, which Issei is captivated by... until he realizes his friend isn't in the circle with them.

"President!" the young man yells desperately at his master, the president of the Kuoh Academy high school's occult research club. "She's coming with us!"

Issei watches Asia push herself to her knees while she is forced to hold her robes together in front of her. Freed tore the girl's clothes open while he threatened to... to "punish" her earlier. Despite the instinctive act of modesty, Asia's attention is fully trained on Issei. The boy remembers how he befriended the shorter girl yesterday when she was, to him, just a strange Italian foreigner lost in Kuoh Town (Okay, she wasn't just that. She was also just his type of cute blonde). Asia didn't know back then the Japanese teenager who came to her aid was a devil, but based on the look in her eyes now and her actions a minute ago, she doesn't seem to hold it against him.

Just moments ago, Issei fought to protect Asia from Freed after she tried to defend him from the exorcist. When the other devils arrived Freed said Asia's barrier around the place had failed, and Issei wonders if the failure was done on purpose. Because the barrier went down, Issei's friends were able to detect the danger and come to save him.

They can save Asia too!

"I'm afraid not."

Rias's cold answer kills the last shred of hope on the nun's face.

"Only members of my household can jump with this magic circle," the redhead explains with a detached tone of voice.

Issei recalls the mark which makes the magic possible, one he received only a couple of days ago himself. The brunet would normally be incensed by his master's casual disregard for his friend, but the way Rias doesn't quite look at him as she speaks makes it clear she takes no pleasure in the matter. The redhead may have scolded Issei yesterday for befriending an enemy of the devils, but she isn't heartless enough abandon an abused youth unless she has to.

Rias's empathy won't help Asia right now, though.

"Asia!" the wounded boy screams again and desperately stretches out his uncovered right hand toward the girl. Issei hasn't made many friends in his life, especially female ones, thanks to his well-deserved reputation as a pervert. As a result, the boy cares deeply for the friends he does have. Even if the two only met yesterday, Issei will not willingly abandon Asia to the hands of the fallen angels, not when she so clearly doesn't want to be with them. The same fallen angels who murdered the high school boy just because he'd been born with a hidden power bestowed upon humans by the God of the Bible, one Issei hadn't even known about at the time, clearly couldn't be trusted to have Asia's best interests at heart.

 _'What good is this damn Sacred Gear,'_ the reincarnated devil curses in his mind. _'If it can't help me save a friend who's right in front of me!?'_

Unbeknown to all present, something begins to change within the gauntlet attached to Issei's arm.

"Let go of me!" Issei cries while he struggles against Koneko's superior strength. The girl's hold on the boy doesn't even budge. "I have to save Asia! Let go of me!"

Normally, the unseen process within Issei's gauntlet would have no discernible outcome. The Sacred Gear is not yet fully awakened, and its host is not experienced in its use. Despite these limitations, the strength of Issei's heart and his unusually potent emotions forces a reaction out of the ancient power sleeping within his soul. Of all the infinitesimal possible variations of these events, this is one where the Sacred Gear's response to its owner actually has an effect.

Somewhere out there, in the vast expanse of creation, a similar existence begins to resonate with Issei Hyoudou's desperate pleas.

"Asia!"

The blonde girl sees her friend's genuine desire to help her. Issei can tell Asia recognizes the total desperation with which he wants to take her away from this situation.

"Issei, I'll..." Asia begins to say, but halts when a tremble runs through her body. The blonde is scared, her friend realizes, but she still wears a sad smile for the boy's sake. Asia is truly happy Issei will escape, even if it is without her. "I'll see you later... somewhere..."

Asia closes her eyes, probably unable to bear the sight of her friend's panicked struggles any longer. The act only strengthens Issei's desire to free the maiden from this madness.

"Someone! Anyone!" Issei suddenly calls out, though he isn't sure where the instinct to do so comes from. Despite all the reasons to think otherwise, deep inside the teenager's soul he feels there might actually be someone who can hear his voice.

If the boy can't save Asia himself, the sensation tells him, then all he can do is beg for aid. If the God of the Bible won't answer a devil's prayers, and if Issei's master and fellow servants won't risk themselves to grant his desire, then the earnest young man will call out to anyone else who might respond. It doesn't matter who.

"Please save her!"

The call is made.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

Far away from the boy who calls, another individual is drawn into his pleas against her will.

In a dark room, a lone female figure of both vampire and human descent, a dhampir, hunches over a table in fear and confusion. The woman's hands brace her weight on the edge of the surface as she stares down at the magical phenomenon before her. Three golden cups, each with intricate designs engraved upon them to further denote their importance, stand upon the table. Each cup holds nearly unfathomable potential, and all three of them currently glow with brilliant power.

Power which their owner did not invoke.

Valerie Tepes stares at the physical manifestation of the Sephiroth Graal. This sealed cup, alongside the sealed spear and the sealed cross, is one of three Sacred Gears known as the Holy Relics. Called the Holy Grail of the Secluded World, the Sephiroth Graal is the Sacred Gear the God of the Bible placed the legendary cup of the same name into.

Since it was sealed, the Holy Grail's presence has manifested within the souls of newborn humans, or human hybrids like Valerie, whenever its host dies, just as nearly all Sacred Gears do. Valerie's specific subspecies of the Sephiroth Graal, a personal mutation of the abilities it normally grants its hosts, is one of astounding potential which creates three Holy Grails at once. All the cups Valerie creates grant her the power to connect to the principle of life and restore it to those who are lost, at the cost of being subjected to the minds of the dead.

The three cups currently overflow with more magic than Valerie herself has ever possessed. The source of the power is completely outside of the young woman's influence or control. Even worse, the dhampir's mind is being assaulted by a powerful intruder because of the side-effect of her Sacred Gear, one whose will and intentions burn more forcefully and fiercely than any single one the current owner of the Holy Grail has ever experienced before.

A young king with an indomitable will. An unrewarded life of duty and hardship. Strength and skill great enough to battle the most famous of legends. A wish powerful enough to rewrite reality itself. A love dear enough to wait an eternity for. A single, endless moment on a hill of swords and corpses which repeats itself over and over again. Valerie Tepes has all of these memories forcefully tear through her consciousness. Above all the others, though, a single thought stands out to the girl, the one which currently dominates the mind of this dead soul she has been connected to.

 _'I will claim the Holy Grail.'_

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

A wave of power washes over Issei and floods his senses. When Asia's teary-eyed form vanishes from the devil's sight, he wails in despair. Issei is convinced he failed to save the innocent girl from the clutches of her abusers. The boy's sorrow remains until the light around him shifts from red to white, then clears away. Issei's vision returns, only to reveal the confused form of Asia still across the same room from him. The blonde still kneels on the ground and clutches her torn clothes to her body to protect her modesty, but her green eyes have shifted from a sorrowful acceptance of Issei's escape without her, to a bewildered worry for his safety.

"Akeno, what's happening?" an authoritative voice demands. Issei glances over to his master. Rias is unusually tense, especially compared to her calm handle on the situation just moments ago. The redhead's blue eyes are filled with concern as she looks between the magic circle on the floor and her black-haired servant.

"I don't know, President!" Akeno responds, also with an uncharacteristic fervor. The young Japanese woman holds her hands open together before her and tries to exert her will over the magic once more. "I've lost control of the circle!"

Issei looks down and sees what has the others so worked up. The red lights which once formed the Gremory family's circle beneath their feet have not only shifted to a light blue color, but the lines which make up the patterns inside it have also begun to rearrange themselves into a new form. The magic which should have allowed the five devils to teleport to safety has been lost.

"Everyone out of the circle!" Rias commands.

The redhead, the brunette, and the blond all leap off to one side of the lights. Koneko continues to carry Issei over her shoulder and jumps to the opposite side. The boy doesn't complain even when the shorter first-year dumps him down roughly on the floor behind her in order to stand guard over him. Koneko is far more capable than Issei, even when he isn't poisoned by light.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

That voice. It is the voice of Issei's murderer, Yuuma Amano... no. Yuuma isn't her real name.

The fallen angel pretended to be a human girl and asked Issei on a date, only to kill him at the end. Because of this raven-haired fallen angel, Issei had to be reincarnated as the servant of a high-class devil in order to save his life. The murderer now floats in the air on the other side of the room below an open portal, along with three other winged companions. Two of the other fallen angels are the man and woman who also attacked Issei in the two days after he was reincarnated. Despite the number of dangers present, though, it is his killer alone who draws Issei's eye. The woman's appearance is still as beautiful and erotic as she was when she thrust a light spear into the human boy's stomach.

Issei can feel a cold sweat break out on his brow just from the sight of his first girlfriend's true form. The fallen angel brings up an unpleasant mix of emotions in the young man, and he can't help but notice not all of them are negative. The happiness which the fallen angel dangled in front of Issei before she cruelly destroyed his trust flashes across the teen's mind.

 _'Yuuma-chan...'_

The other members of the occult research club visibly shift their focus as well. Obviously, none of the experienced devils are willing to show weakness to the fallen angels, not even as an unknown phenomenon interrupts their escape. Rias and her other servants keep one eye on the new threats and the other on the rogue circle between them. The changes of the blue lights seem to go largely unnoticed by the new arrivals, though, since none would be aware the magic isn't doing what the devils want it to.

"Some lousy devils have come to interrupt our exorcist's work?" Yuuma continues without a care for her effect on Issei's mental state, or perhaps she just intentionally ignores it to be cruel. The woman's violet eyes scan the five youths, unimpressed by what she sees. When the inhuman gaze lands on Issei, the boy's heart stops for an instant, partially in fear and partially out of misguided hope.

"Oh? And it looks like Kalawarner was right. Someone actually wasted their time bringing a worthless fool back to life," Yuuma laughs. Issei's heart twists in fresh pain as a deranged, toothy smile fills the fallen angel's face. The woman raises an empty right hand next to her head, where sparks of red begin to light up between the killer's black-gloved fingers. "Guess I'll just have to finish what I started."

"Raynare," a voice from behind the woman interrupts. Issei is relieved to see the words draw his murderer's attention away from him, just a second before he realizes this must be Yuuma's real name.

It is the lone male among the fallen angels who speaks. The winged man stares at the blue circle with narrowed eyes as its lines cease their changes and stabilize into a new pattern. "That isn't the Gremory family's circle. What is th-"

The question never gets to be asked. A blast of raw power and light erupts from the magic circle and fills the room with its brilliance. All curiosity is momentarily forgotten, replaced with an awe inspired by the magical force unleashed between the two enemy factions.

The call is answered.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

The Sephiroth Graal shines. The intricate engravings on each of the Sacred Gear's three cups glow with a rainbow of colours. The Holy Grail's master has never before seen this happen.

The three manifestations of the Holy Grail act together as one. Valerie Tepes has used the principle of life to revive the dead in the past, but never with a process like this. One cup devotes its full power to summon forth the soul of a mysterious entity from places unknown, another is dedicated to creating a powerful body devoid of its normal mortal weaknesses to house the spirit, and the third does something completely new to the dhampir. The Sacred Gear's last cup works to provide the summoned creature with unique magical equipment as dictated by an unknown, alien will. Until now, Valerie was not aware of her Sacred Gear to be capable of this. The very thought of it seems too powerful, powerful enough to upset the...

 _'...balance?'_

The dhampir's stray thought is quickly engulfed and lost amid the iron will of the dead woman currently connected to her mind.

Throughout this process, Valerie's eyes remain wide open. Never once does the girl blink or lose sight of her rogue Sacred Gear. Valerie can't move a muscle, she can't even attempt to scream for help. All the dhampir can do is endure. The time it takes for the Sephiroth Graal to finish its work is incalculable to the young aristocrat. Perhaps it is only seconds, but it could well be hours. In the end, there is only one possible result.

The lights fade, the cups become inert once more, and the exhausted woman collapses completely to the floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

Valerie Tepes is nearly comatose. Though the girl's Sacred Gear was fueled by energy from somewhere else, she still experienced the unusually fierce rigors of its unique activation. The pain caused by channeling the power that seized the Holy Grail is immense. Valerie's mind is now an incessant buzz of incoherent thoughts, and her body shudders uselessly.

The vampire royal will be discovered by her attendants soon. The magical forces at work were too intense to have been missed by the other residents of the Tepes home. Until the girl is found, though, she will not move from her crumpled position on the floor. Valerie simply lies where she fell, shakes with pain and fear, and has one constantly repeated thought bubble up from within the chaos left of her mind.

 _'She's coming for me.'_

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

 _'An angel?'_

More than one occupant of the room shares this thought. Almost all who have either witnessed the God of the Bible's untainted creations in person, or have seen accurate representations of them, believe they see one now. The figure who emerges from the magic circle only has a few of the aspects associated with the denizens of Heaven, but those few are striking indeed.

Rias Gremory, who has witnessed delegations of angels in the past, has her eyes drawn to the stranger's clothes. The figure's royal blue dress is adorned by a silver-white breastplate with decorative azure etchings, along with matching gauntlets, greaves and tassets. Each piece is so immaculately crafted and maintained they cannot be mortal-made. Equipment of such quality would be suitable for any of Heaven's warriors.

Raynare and her companions, who each lived among the pure angels before they fell, are captivated by the intruder's face. As far as beauty goes, the heavenly host is renowned for their perfect skin and sculpted features. Despite the fallen angels' intimate familiarity with this fact, they each still feel at least a single throb of envy at the sight of this woman's visage. _Flawless_. There is no ostentation to the stranger's appearance, she simply bears an obvious beauty which requires no effort to convey itself; any additions made by even the most skilled cosmeticians would only be an insult. Even the woman's conservative clothing and bulky armor fail to detract from the majesty her features, and neither does her stern countenance.

Several of the devils present don't have a clear view of the newcomer's features at first. Those few have their gaze initially drawn to the woman's hair instead, which is a work of art in and of itself. If Asia's hair can be considered golden blonde, then this person's must have been cast from actual gold, then spun into fine silken threads. Most present find it instinctively difficult to believe a mortal could be born with such beautifully-colored hair. The stranger's locks are worn in an intricately-laced bun and tied with a blue ribbon, save for two bangs which frame her face.

Issei Hyoudou is immediately awed by the sheer charisma of the new arrival. Despite being only a fraction over five feet tall, the woman exudes a presence which towers over the others in the room. The effect is no doubt amplified for the brunet, since he has to look up at the woman while seated on the floor. Regardless, there is a palpable air of importance and rightness the mysterious intruder carries with her, enough to match the greatest of leaders.

Of them all, Asia Argento alone finds herself enthralled by the woman's eyes. Those emerald orbs scan the room and its occupants with incredible precision and insight. Even in the stranger's supposed blind spots, no one ever feels like they aren't being tracked by her. Those beautiful green pools of strength look confidently back at every potential foe who meets them. Within those eyes, most feel trepidation at the sight of a warrior ready for battle, but what the sister with a heart of peace sees is more distinct: a protector ready to defend her charge.

The majority of those assembled can't help but think, at least momentarily, that the third faction of the Great War has sent down a representative of its own to join the current conflict between devils and fallen angels. There is no visible weapon on the woman's body, but no one doubts she is dangerous. After the initial shock wears off, though, there are a variety of reactions. Most realize the presence of a true angel would come with a more palpable aura of holiness, and recognize their mistake. Some, mainly those with black-feathered wings, curse their even momentary jealousy of the figure's appearance and begin to mentally reassert their own egotistical self-images. Others begin to question the odd nature of the stranger's arrival and wonder what the interruption might mean.

Whatever the specifics of their response might be, everyone in the room continues on in silence for another tense heartbeat while they gather their wits.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

While all of her potential allies and enemies are stunned into silence for a few scant seconds, Artoria Pendragon completes her initial assessment of the situation. There are two distinct groups present, both of which show signs of hostility or mistrust to one another. More importantly, the summoned spirit also deduces the identity of both the boy who called her here and the girl he wishes to save.

When Servants are summoned in Fuyuki City's Holy Grail War, they can sense manifested spiritual entities as a means to track their competition. The Holy Grail of this world seems to have granted the knight a similar ability, because the blonde detects a presence similar to a Servant's, but less potent, from everyone around her but two. Whoever these people are, they are not likely human with so much spiritual essence infused within their flesh and blood bodies. Even the two humans seem to carry items on them which register as spiritual to Artoria's sixth sense.

Two features separate the gathered figures in Artoria's mind. The standardized uniforms the group around Artoria wears, and the language spoken by the voice who called for help, suggest they are Japanese high school students. The knight recognizes the form of dress because of Shirou, who was also a student throughout her brief time with him. On the other side of the room, most of the occupants levitate in the air on pairs of black wings which do not flap. The two humans among them wear religious garb, which makes them distinct from the high school group.

Two sides to pick from.

To Artoria's left, a boy sits on the floor behind a protective girl. Most notably, the young man's left arm bears a decorative red gauntlet with a large green orb set in the back of the hand. Artoria can't help but take note of this peculiar accessory, for it registers on her newfound sense as a unique signature. Curiously, in the sixth sense Artoria has been granted, the gauntlet has a very similar presence to her own.

The brown-haired boy who wears the red gauntlet is seated on the floor not just because of shock or clumsiness, Artoria notes, but due to a deep injury in his lower leg. The expression on the stranger's face is easy to read: total awe and confusion. There is no mask over the boy's genuine emotions at all.

 _'This one.'_ Artoria has little doubt this young man is the one who begged so passionately for someone to save a girl named Asia.

Next comes the identity of the one in need of rescue.

The obvious candidate for Artoria's charge is the one human who appears in distress. The pretty young girl wears a white and green religious habit, and she currently kneels on the floor between Artoria and the priestly human man with the deranged look on his face. The sister's expressive green eyes are filled with a sense of wonder and concern which make her seem innocent, despite what surrounds her. Artoria is convinced she is correct in her assessment by the wet tracks running down the girl's cheeks.

Artoria would think this girl appears the most distressed of everyone here, were it not for the physical injuries which cripple her summoner. Those wounds are, no doubt, what caused a need to ask someone else to save the blonde. The sister is not untouched either, and even now she uses her hands to hold her torn-open dark teal robes over her otherwise exposed but uninjured chest. Artoria frowns at the thought of what such specific damage might have been caused for.

In the span of the few seconds it takes for every other party to blink and process the arrival of the armoured blonde woman, Artoria identifies both her Master and the objective he called her here for. Since none of those present seem eager to act, however, Artoria decides to begin with her traditional greeting.

"I ask you..."

The blonde closes her eyes and speaks with the intention to lock her gaze on the injured brunet to her left as she finishes her question. Everyone in the room is transfixed by the words of the unexpected invader. Artoria has a clear, refined voice which demands attention and rings with the same combination of strength and beauty as her face. Whether the individual members of the assembled audience listen out of genuine curiosity, cautious fear, or just anger which seeks a target, the knight knows none present want to miss out on the question she has appeared here to ask.

"...are you-"

None, except for one.

A sudden rush of footsteps interrupts the blonde's words and shocks the other occupants of the room out of their stupor. Artoria is not someone accustomed to being ignored. The only one not surprised by the interruption is Asia Argento. It's only natural the former nun wouldn't be caught off-guard by this, though. After all...

…Asia has kept at least one eye on Issei the entire time.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

 _'I've got to get Asia out of here!'_

Issei's body screams in agony when he forces his injured leg to run. The reincarnated devil's muscles protest every movement as the light in his system saps their strength. The teenage boy's emotions also churn with terror, for his murderer is in the direction he runs toward.

Ultimately, though, Asia's one friend in the world ignores the pain, the weakness, and the fear. The person known as Issei Hyoudou may possess a myriad of character flaws, but a willingness to abandon the people he cares for is not one of them.

Two seconds ago, Issei had been just as enraptured with the appearance of the mysterious beauty as anyone else in the room. The sight of the majestic blonde would have taken the kid's breath away if his blood loss hadn't already done so. Had the stranger shown up in some sort of revealing outfit then the unapologetic pervert might very well have become insensate to the rest of the world for a few more seconds. Fortunately, the new arrival's conservative dress wasn't enough of a distraction to prevent the young man from making an important observation.

Rias and (after a quick glance around the room) everyone else were just as shocked by the new arrival as Issei himself. Once the boy realized an opportunity to move existed, it didn't matter to him how much his body still protested it. Devil biology must have some equivalent to adrenaline, because the brunet was energized by the chance to save Asia.

Issei sprang to his feet as soon as the stranger opened her mouth.

Now Issei's wounded legs carry him straight for Asia, pure determination on his face. The small maiden looks up at the boy's approach silently, and an obvious mix of hope and fear wells up within her. Issei would call out the girl's name again if he didn't need to grit his teeth against the pain. The devil also stays silent because he hopes whatever the woman behind him has to say will continue to distract the fallen angels from his actions, at least long enough to get Asia out of the building. Issei is sure that, if he can get a hold of Asia, his fellow devils will help them both run away.

Issei's strength wavers, but after what feels to him like ten minutes of running in place he finally gets near arm's reach of Asia. Both teenagers smile in defiant hope as the other fills their vision, and they desperately reach out their right hands to one another.

The pair's hope is dashed when a dark shadow looms over the blonde on the floor.

Issei's brown eyes grow wide in recognition and fear. The shadow isn't the fallen angels, as the boy first expected. The winged ones are still in the air further back, wary of the unexpected intruder. The truth of the shadow's identity is no less terrible, though.

"Hey, thanks," Freed says to Issei with unnecessary glee. The psychotic smile on the man's face stretches his cheeks and lips unnaturally tight, and he chambers a slash with his right arm. "For a minute there, I didn't think you'd let me finish. You're a real classy lady!"

Issei dives for his friend. Asia screams the boy's name in fear. Both teens know it's too late. Freed swings his right arm up and over his body. The strike is meant to come down through Issei's head, just as the devil reaches his friend, and drench Asia in a torrent of his blood.

Rias futilely calls out for her servant to come back, the pain of not reacting fast enough to stop him evident in her voice.

Issei doesn't have time for any regrets. All the boy does is stare into Asia's sad face and swear to himself that, somehow, he will save her, even if he has to die again to do it.

A sharp tone, the song of steel as it clashes with steel, assaults the air a split second before Issei collides with Asia. The boy drags the girl down and to the side, where the two bodies tumble a short distance before they come to a stop. The brunet, afraid for his friend's safety, holds her closely underneath him. The blonde, probably overcome with fear for her friend as well, hugs him back. Issei intends to shield Asia from the blow he expects to come from above at any moment, his eyes pinched tight as he awaits the familiar pain of death once more.

The hormonal young man also tries very hard not to ruin his heroic sacrifice by allowing his last thoughts to drift to the fact that, by hugging him, Asia has let go of her ruined dress and is currently pressing into him with her-

"Well," an unfamiliar but calm voice says to disrupt the undesired, if enjoyable, train of thought. "I suppose this proves it. It can only be you."

Issei blinks his eyes open and turns his head. The boy's neck is still attached to his body, which he considers an unexpected plus. Asia also pokes her head out and blinks curiously for a moment, before she remembers herself and swiftly gathers together the sheared-apart pieces of her clothes again, cheeks on fire as she does so. Issei tries not to feel disappointed at the loss of contact and focuses his attention on the sight above the pair.

Freed still stands over the devil and his friend. The man's right arm made it most of the way down to Issei's head, but seems to have frozen in midair before it could reach its goal. The albino priest's arm trembles with effort, and his gloved hand squeezes ever tighter on the intricately-shaped golden hilt which projects the light he uses as a weapon. Both of these actions indicate the madman doesn't stay his sword by choice. Freed grits his teeth in concentration and scowls angrily, but his eyes are aimed across from him rather than down. Issei follows the scowl to find the source of the problem.

There stands the stranger. The blonde woman is a little further back, in the direction Issei ran from. The armoured girl's own right arm is extended out toward Freed's sword as well, though it doesn't reach it. Issei notices the blonde's fist is held partially open in a way which mimics the act of holding a weapon, but there is nothing visible in the warrior's grasp.

Around the four people caught in the altercation, the rest of the fallen angels and devils watch on with curiosity. Although the stranger has no aura of light or demonic power Issei is skilled enough to detect, the strength of her raw magical capacity is palpable even to the new devil's inexperienced senses. The woman also moves with far greater speed and strength than any ordinary human should be capable of. The occult research club seems to hold on to some spells and attacks, probably in case the stranger's intervention turns sour.

In the midst of it all, what really draws Issei's attention now is the woman's appearance. No longer does the blonde glance around her with a fierce expression on her face. Issei, and most of the others, originally thought the stranger's pretty features required no improvement to show off her beauty. Now, however, the assumption is proven wrong. The small, soft smile of approval which shines down on the boy has made the woman look radiant enough to light up a stadium. Issei can't even imagine how spectacular an expression of actual joy would look like on this beautiful face.

"What, you can't wait for me to do you next, bitch?!" Freed yells to ruin the moment. The woman's emerald eyes turn cold and her lips become a thin line once more, her attention now on the exorcist. Whatever it is the blonde does to hold Freed back, Issei notices, she doesn't struggle at all, no matter how much effort the albino seems to exert. "If it's a threesome you want, I'm happy to oblige!"

Freed abandons his attempt to cut down into Issei and pulls his sword back. Simultaneously, the exorcist's left hand whips a large silver firearm forward with the speed and precision of a cobra strike and points the cross-shaped barrel straight at the stranger's forehead. By the time even Issei's enhanced devil eyes perceive the movement, the mysterious blonde's brain is just a single twitch of Freed's trigger finger away from being filled with blessed lead.

Unfortunately for Freed, when the warrior moves in response she is faster than any snake who has ever caught its prey. Rather than shy away from the gun, the blonde shows no hesitation and advances instead. A gauntlet-clad right arm bends at the elbow, and the partially-open hand is raised to eye level next to the woman's head.

The revolver barks, a sound last accompanied by a burst of Issei's flesh. This time, though, the only accompaniment is a loud clang as the bullet bounces off of an unseen obstacle between the muzzle and its target. Sparks erupt before the woman's face in the wake of the shot, but her focused eyes don't so much as blink in response.

Freed has no time to try for a second shot before the armoured warrior in front of him spins around on one leg into his space. The woman's wide skirt flares open as she turns, which gives Issei a clear view of... well, actually, it's not what the boy has gotten used to seeing whenever he has a chance to look up a woman's skirt. The blonde's lower body is still fully clothed underneath the garment.

What Issei really gets a good view of is just how deeply the blonde's armoured right foot embeds itself into the exorcist's abdomen. Freed is struck so forcefully the man folds over on the spot and practically envelopes his attacker's limb between his legs and torso.

What happens next drives Issei to cover his head. Not even one second after the blonde's foot makes contact with Freed, the man is rocketed away from the point of impact with an audible blast. The sound of the woman's kick is more comparable to the roar of a cannon than the measly gunshot Freed's weapon produced. A rush of air washes over Issei and Asia hard enough to flutter their hair and clothes. The brunet's low position also gives him a decent view of how the floor behind the woman's planted foot cracks as she braces herself against it.

Freed hits the back wall, then smashes right through it into the room beyond with a painful clatter. The armoured woman demonstrates impeccable grace and spins back onto both feet without delay, after which she stands with her left side toward the fallen angels and her right to the devils. All of the airborne warriors now openly scowl in the blonde's direction, but each one fails to match the intensity of the emerald glare she returns their way.

A few heartbeats later, Issei realizes the only sound his superior devil ears can pick up from Freed are some very shallow breaths.

"Can you run?"

The woman doesn't remove her eyes from the angry fallen angels, but Issei knows the question is meant for him.

"I..."

The boy starts, then hesitates. Issei wants to say yes, but whatever rush of energy he'd had before is gone now. The light in the devil's body still weighs him down as well. Issei is about to answer in the negative, when a soft green glow envelops his leg.

"Asia?" Issei asks in awe when he looks down at the determined face of the girl.

The maiden throws away her sense of modesty and allows her hands to hover over her friend's gunshot wound, the two silver bands of her Sacred Gear now prominent on her middle fingers. Asia focuses on her work and ignores all else.

The power of Asia's Sacred Gear is incredible. Even the holiness of the exorcist round can't resist the restorative power of the God of the Bible's gift to the young maiden. Issei feels more than just his flesh and bones being mended and his system being cleared, there is also a gentle warmth which retroactively soothes every throb of pain the boy has had to endure since he received the injury. It feels as if the girl can heal the soul itself. Issei could easily be lost in this sensation, especially since Asia's clothes once again hang ope-

"Yes," Issei declares once his leg is restored. The boy tears his eyes away from the girl beneath him to the one above him. Issei is well aware now is not the time to get distracted, no matter how easy or pleasant it might be. The sword wound on the devil's back remains, and the light from it still burns through him, but his leg works and it will have to be enough for now. Waiting for Asia to heal the second injury would only invite the fallen angels to attack.

"Take her to safety," the armoured stranger instructs, her gaze still locked on the winged figures. "I will eliminate the threats."

"You'll _eliminate_ us?" Raynare asks with barely-contained disgust. "I don't know who you think you are, but beating a worthless human like Freed doesn't make you strong. You'll die like the rest of these fools!"

A red spear of light erupts into Raynare's hand. Each of the fallen angel's fellows project a similar weapon of their own in a variety of colours.

Issei doesn't wait. The boy has no desire to listen to his murderer's complaints. At the words of the incredible woman who saved both the devil and his new friend, Issei pulls himself and Asia to their feet, then leads her back toward the front door of the home. It's hard for the boy to imagine the stranger won't be able to do what she claims.

"Hold on," Issei hears Rias protest, her blue eyes narrowed at the profile of the golden-haired knight. "This is the territory of the Gremory family. I won't have you barge in here and restart the Great War by slaughtering fallen angels under my watch."

"So war will be avoided if I leave them alive?"

Rias speaks with the full authority afforded to her, but the armoured girl shrugs off her words like they are no more bothersome than a light spring rain. The calm, quick response also visibly incenses the fallen angels; each one seems happy to forget the devils in favor of the new woman.

"That's hardly the point," Rias responds, her controlled demeanor tainted with a dangerous edge. Issei has never seen the president exude such threat before, not even to Freed when she first arrived here. "I don't know who or what you are, but-"

"Dragon."

For the second time tonight, all activity in the room stops cold. Even Issei and Asia's slow but steady retreat is halted by the single terrified word spoken by the usually stoic Koneko. Issei remembers how the short freshman was momentarily paralyzed in fear earlier, which was what allowed Issei the chance to rush to Asia's side in the first place. Now Issei knows what caused Koneko to lapse in her duty to guard him.

Whoever this woman is, she has the presence of a dragon.

The fallen angels have not attacked yet, but only because, despite the stranger's words with the Gremory heiress, the target of their ire never looks distracted at all. Raynare probably still would have launched her assault by now out of a lack of patience, Issei thinks, but only if she wasn't caught off-guard and left to stare wide-eyed after this announcement like everyone else in the room. Even Rias's carefully-sculpted persona cracks a little from fear when she turns back to the stranger.

"Get her to safety," the armoured woman repeats herself, the words once more directed at Issei instead of Rias. "I will wait here for your return."

Issei doesn't delay any longer. Rias might be the boy's master, but Asia is his friend. To save the nun is the devil's highest priority right now.

"Thank you."

As the cool night air greets him outside, Issei can't help but notice this is twice now he owes a beautiful woman for saving someone he cares about. First it was his own life, and now Asia's. Maybe, the teen's over-taxed mind considers in a moment of distracted fancy, these consecutive bad days aren't so terrible after all.

Not if this trend continues.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

The young man's quiet words of thanks bring another small smile to Artoria's face, though this one is far more competitive than the last. The woman's certainty sends a challenge to the winged warriors. Whether or not King Arthur has been summoned as a Servant, or as something else entirely, it is still a knight's duty to protect the one they have sworn an oath to. Artoria will not accept any form of failure in her task.

"Everyone, follow Issei and keep him safe," the nearby redhead instructs quietly as she ushers the rest on her side to exit the building as well. A concerned look is on the leader's face, but she seems to accept the situation is beyond her control and places the safety of her people back at the top of her priorities. "We'll have to handle this later."

"You guys kill them and get Asia back," the black-haired enemy snarls to her fellows. The woman's violet eyes take in the taunt on the armoured stranger's face with outrage. "I'll deal with this one."

The other three, apparently all too happy to _not_ fight someone who might very well be a dragon in human form, take flight toward the front door of the house. The winged group's leader tries to keep word and charges Artoria with a thrust of her red spear. The trio after Asia almost make it a whole three feet, but then a sound akin to shattering glass catches their attention. The group's black-haired colleague crashes into the side of their formation, after which all four are sent into one of the unbroken walls and collapse to the floor.

The fallen angels untangle themselves, their leader angrily pushing aside her male subordinate's offered hand as she gets back to her feet. The sound of metallic footsteps draws the group's attention to their opponent's movement. The knight walks calmly on her plate boots to stand between her gathered opposition and the way Asia left the building, her hard eyes locked on each of them the entire time.

"None of you may leave until I allow it."

Artoria draws her hands up together next to her and holds one over the other. Once again, the knight's steel-covered fingers grasp the hilt of a sword no one can see.

The knight will fulfill her duty, just as she always has before. Even if Artoria never got to ask her question, the answer was obvious.

 _'You...'_ the blonde thinks as she pictures the boy with the red gauntlet. The image of the brunet as he rushes with foolhardy determination into danger to save an innocent person is still fresh in Artoria's mind. The scene is easily transposed over many similar memories of another important young man, which brings a deep satisfaction to the maiden's heart. _'... are my Master.'_

* * *

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **And now chapter two is complete. It feels good to come back to** ** _The Red Dragon's Saber_** **. It's hard for me to write, but worthwhile for the challenge.**

 **Update: I would like to apologize for the multiple perspective shifts within a single scene this chapter. I was enjoying writing again for the first time in years and I got carried away, haha. It would be too much of a structural rewrite to edit now, I think, but I'll stay vigilant for this in the future.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Captain Bell**


	3. Change of Fate

**Author's Notes**

 **Hello, this is Captain Bell. Welcome back.**

 **My thanks to the chapter's Beta Readers: Andivia and ekaterina016**

 **It has been too long, so I won't delay any further.**

 **Let us begin.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Change of Fate**

* * *

A dozen trails of a dozen slashes illuminate the dark room in a variety of hues. Weapons forged from pure radiance weave through the air with superhuman speed and grace. The brilliant paths of these arms create a tapestry of colorful violence cast in the purple glow from above, a tapestry which can be appreciated for only a moment before it fades away and is immediately replaced by the next iteration. The records of the battle between the fallen angels and the supposed dragon survive for only a few seconds at a time in these brief after-images.

They are records of repeated failures.

Raynare scowls and clutches a fresh pole of light in her hands. The memory of what happened to the woman's last spear flashes through her mind, the image of it shattered when Raynare tried to stab her foe in the back of the blonde's pretty little head. The intricate bun of hair made for a perfect target, and all three of Raynare's subordinates pressured the swordsman from the front to create the perfect opportunity for a death blow.

The short girl hadn't even bothered to look behind her when she swept her arm back and casually blasted Raynare's weapon into useless, brightly-lit dust.

 _'What is she!?'_ The raven-haired beauty demands from herself, not for the first time in this fight.

Several questions about the nature and identity of their newfound enemy have passed through the lips of the assembled fallen angels. So far, the mysterious stranger has not yet deigned to offer any answers. The cold indifference infuriates Raynare as much as any of the woman's other perceived offences.

Although the battle has yet been a short one, every one of Raynare's missed swings and parried thrusts feel like they take hours to perform. The enemy is simply much faster than the fallen angel. Raynare closes in for another strike, but the hopeless sensation of slowed time repeats itself once more when the inevitable retaliation occurs.

Raynare feels a gentle nudge against her light spear and her eyes widen as she watches herself be brushed aside by an unseen weapon, one which she'd been sure she was out of the range of. The blonde's invisible parry is expertly done, and the thoughtfully-applied force behind it causes Raynare's entire body to be thrown aside by her follow-through. The fallen angel charges right by the current melee as a result, and the armoured figure fearlessly steps away from her to engage another of the winged warriors instead.

 _'Again?'_ Raynare asks herself behind her foe, partially for being dismissed so easily and partially for her own misjudgment. _'How long is that vile thing!?'_

Raynare curses her inability to figure out the enemy any better from her last attack than she has in all of them so far. The armored warrior strikes with her invisible armament too quickly to read, and she constantly presses forward against her attackers to disrupt their judgement further. If this woman wanted Raynare dead, the brunette thinks with disgust, she has probably had ample opportunity to see it done.

 _'Where did she come from!?'_ the raven-haired woman repeats to herself. The unknown blonde's appearance here was clearly as much of a surprise to the devils as it was to the fallen angels, yet despite her being a stranger to them all she still protected that idiot Issei and let him take Asia away.

Away from _her_! The one who needs Asia the most!

Spurred on by the memory of Asia's importance, Raynare seizes the momentum of her missed thrust for another purpose. The fallen angel's black wings flap hard and shoot her toward a window at full speed.

 _'The rest can deal with this one. I only need Asia. Those devils are probably nothing compared to this woman.'_

As if summoned by the stray thought, a familiar shade of gold enters Raynare's peripheral vision. The armoured woman leans nearly horizontally to the floor in a forward dash, her blonde hair at the fore. Raynare realizes the girl has caught up to her escape attempt in an instant, a feat of acceleration which puts any hopes of evasion to rest. The hard, green eyes of the warrior hardly even look her target over before she spins around and brings her invisible weapon into Raynare's flight path.

A light spear is held up in defence, but it offers no resistance. The construct immediately shatters in the middle when the blonde hammers through it. Raynare feels an increasingly familiar impact to her abdomen, followed by the increasingly familiar sensation of being thrown back through the air and into her blonde subordinate.

"Is this a fight or a game to you!?" the other fallen angel wails as she extricates herself from Raynare. "Do you score more points every time you knock us into one another!?"

As usual, the knightly figure stays silent.

Raynare's teeth grind painfully together while she rights herself, a hand clutched to her bare stomach. The armoured woman's unseen weapon is either a steel club, or she has chosen to repeatedly slam the fallen angels with the flat side of an invisible sword. Either way, the fires of Raynare's rage are further fueled by the thought of her perfect, gorgeous skin being blemished by so many bruises.

 _'And how is she doing this!?'_ the woman demands. Raynare considers this the most important question of them all.

Raynare is ignorant of how her confusion is a result of her own bias. To her, angels are perfect beings. The members of the heavenly host are not born, but created by their Father with the full knowledge and capabilities necessary for the role they are each meant to fill. Even after they fall, angels are still everything they are ever meant to be. Many beings exist who are stronger than the weakest two-winged angels, yes, but Raynare cannot believe she has met one here. Why would such a being protect Asia and that worthless loser Issei, after all? How either teenager could possibly merit such grand protection is inconceivable. The blonde obviously isn't an ally of the Gremory family, based on how she appeared, so it isn't due to the redheaded devil's connections.

Raynare has witnessed some of the stronger members of Grigori, the group of fallen angels governed by the highest-ranked among them, at work. Higher beings in combat are truly a sight to behold. Never has Raynare had to face any of her superiors herself, though. Angels aren't made by their Father to improve themselves beyond their station, so none ever need to train or practice against one another. Still, Raynare can't help but think her current overwhelming sense of hopelessness in this fight is comparable to how it would feel to face someone with more wings than her in battle.

 _'How many wings is this woman's strength worth? Six? Eight?'_ the fallen angel wonders. It's hard for Raynare to guess accurately while the armoured blonde holds back her full strength with constant non-lethal blows. _'Was the albino's asinine comment about a dragon really true?'_

A complete lack of acknowledgement is certainly how Raynare would expect a real dragon to treat others, to be honest, but what she wouldn't expect is for one to just, just… _play_ with them like this! A superior foe should just get it over and done with already!

Not that Raynare would ever acknowledge such a thought out loud.

The thought which Raynare does acknowledge is the comparison of the blonde's incredible power to those of higher-level angels. This image brings back to the forefront of the woman's mind the memory of her plan.

 _'I will not waste away as a weakling! This... this_ _ **monster**_ _will not stop my chance to ascend!'_

With an unladylike grunt of effort, the violet-eyed fallen angel creates two more of her light spears at once and charges back into the fray with a weapon in each hand.

The illuminated records of Raynare's next few failures linger on in the dark room for a few seconds at a time, just like all the others which came before them.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

 _'I'm glad the others are here to help me get Asia away,'_ Issei thinks to himself as his feet take him down a sidewalk with haste. A fresh burn of pain throbs its way out of the teen's back, causing him to stumble once. _'Okay, maybe_ _ **I'm**_ _the one who actually needs help.'_

Either way, Asia hasn't left Issei's side since they exited the home where they were reunited. The holy sister matches her pace to her friend's and trots alongside him while she continues to clutch her torn clothes together over her chest.

Such a large group might normally draw a lot of attention this late in the evening, but thankfully Kuoh Town is not Tokyo. There isn't much of an active night life to hide from on these streets, at least not of the mundane variety. The group has relative privacy for their retreat.

When Rias and the others come from behind and surround the pair, Asia doesn't show a hint of fear. The girl just smiles in appreciation at the devils' presence, apparently happy to just believe the best about the companions of her friend.

Issei smiles at the sight of Asia's trust, right up until another pulse of pain from the shallow cut in his back causes the boy to hiss through his teeth.

"Issei, do you need me to heal you again?" Asia asks with open concern. The blonde pushes herself closer to Issei's side and uses one hand to gently examine his blood-stained back. The rest of the devils halt around them while Asia looks the boy over. Issei appreciates the nun's tenderness, but he can't help but grunt as a fresh, brand new sense of pain washes over him as a result of her attention.

"I think Hyoudou might appreciate a bit of distance from you right now, actually," Yuuto says from Issei's other side.

Despite the Kuoh Academy idol's nonchalant delivery, Asia can't hide her emotional reaction to his statement from Issei's eyes. The girl is obviously saddened by the idea her friend would feel better without her around. No doubt, the boy thinks, Asia has already begun to ask herself if she has been too much of a burden on him, or if he only saved her as a one-time acknowledgement of their friendship and expected her to go off on her own afterwards.

Issei makes several sputtered protests against such thoughts amid his painful winces, of course, but it is Yuuto who solves the problem when he clarifies his own statement. The gentle smile on the blond boy's face doesn't falter in the face of Asia's fears, he simply catches her attention and then points gingerly toward his sternum and nods down at her.

Asia looks down at her own chest and notices, perhaps for the first time, the hand she still uses to hold her robe together in front of her is also clasped around her crucifix as well. Asia instinctively grabbed the necklace when Issei pulled her away from the house, and it is now dangerously close to the devil's side due to their proximity.

"My, my," Akeno observes from her position ahead of the pair. The older teen turns her head around to give Asia a mischievous, and subtly dangerous, look. "Such tough love."

Asia's blush must be at both the comment and her own thoughtlessness. Issei watches the girl separate herself from his side and rearrange her hands so one keeps her outfit in place while the other takes hold of the holy symbol. Asia seems to hesitate there for a moment before she closes her eyes, raises the crucifix to her lips, and mouths a silent prayer.

The gathered devils all have a visible and identical reaction to Asia's prayer as far as Issei can tell, himself included. The mild headache is almost a welcome distraction from the pain in Issei's back and leg. The other students, who need no such distractions, all manage to look both validated and disappointed in Asia at the same time. Those expressions change, though, when after her short prayer is complete Asia rushes off to the side, hangs her necklace and its symbol delicately over the rung of a fence by the street, and then rushes back to Issei's side without a single look back. Even Yuuto's normally unshakable facade of pleasantness is momentarily forgotten when he joins the others in reconsidering the group's new tag-along.

"Issei, if you can keep going, then we shouldn't stop yet," says Rias's steady voice from the back of the group. Issei can't help but notice how their leader places herself in the position they are most likely to be followed from, a sign she really does care about her servants as much as she claims. "We'll find a place to slip away for Asia to finish healing you, but we can't be sure how much damage the woman will cause, or how far spread it might be."

Issei isn't sure he agrees with his master's worry, but then Koneko nods her head with a single bob in his peripheral vision and he is reminded of the freshman's words… or a single word, really.

 _Dragon_.

Rias obviously trusts the younger girl's claim. Issei isn't yet sure how dragons fit into the new world he's become a part of, but he has no doubt they are extremely dangerous. If the beauty who saved both Asia and Issei himself is really a legendary beast of that level, then there is no way for the boy to predict what she will do or what she wants.

 _'But her smile…'_

"I'm fine," the boy declares with a nod to reassure Asia before he begins to step forward again. The rest of the group resumes their march around the pair as well. Once Issei is sure Asia is a safe distance from the fallen angels, then he will let her heal him. After that, the boy intends go back for their savior.

The woman did say she would wait for him, after all.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

Dishonorable.

Artoria cannot think of any other word to describe it. The King of Knights has always been brutally efficient in combat. Defeat your enemies in a head-on confrontation of your best pitted against theirs; this is one of the principles of chivalry King Arthur always tried to uphold. When the hero's previous master, the one before Shirou, refused to let her fight a chivalrous way it created an irreconcilable rift between them.

Now Artoria fights dishonorably again, only this time it is of her own volition.

Since Artoria is honour-bound to fight these monsters without killing them, she takes the opportunity to at least test out her new body and its capabilities.

 _'A Holy Grail has certainly summoned me here,'_ the knight thinks. Artoria captures the attention of an unprepared foe and rushes to their side. _'But there seems to be no Grail System in place to inform me of my situation.'_

Unlike Artoria's experience in the Holy Grail Wars, there has been no transfer of knowledge about the summoned spirit's capabilities, or about this world or era, for her to rely on. The knight realizes she needs to learn whatever she can the hard way.

For example, these dark-winged beings were called fallen angels by the redheaded woman who left. Such creatures do not exist in these forms where Artoria came from, which is the first indication she has not been summoned into a world similar to her original timeline. The second indication was when the man of the group demanded to know what 'magic' Artoria used to hide her weapon, a feat which is a minor miracle only on the level of magecraft and not True Magic. These discrepancies are one of the knight's first discoveries about this world.

Artoria's first discovery about herself is that she feels, to her surprise, alive. An actual heartbeat and a genuine need for oxygen are among the warrior's first observations of her new body. Rather than be incarnated as a solid spiritual entity like a Servant, one which only simulates a heart and lungs for the sake of the container, the woman has been granted actual flesh and blood again. Whatever form of Holy Grail summoned King Arthur's soul this time, she thinks, its power is certainly impressive enough to outshine Fuyuki's system if it can perform true resurrection without a Grail War to power it first.

 _'Fortunately, I already have experience fighting as a living Servant from the Grail Wars,'_ Artoria assures herself as she sends her unprepared foe away with a single lash of wind from a powerful sword swing. _'But my magical energy is a concern.'_

The flow of Artoria's energy has felt alien to her since she appeared in this world. The knight's armor was successfully created from her inner power, just as she intended it to be when she was summoned, but the internal process which causes the plates to form feels different now than it did before she died.

Amidst all these unexpected developments, the presence of the knight's sword in her hand, concealed from sight by a silent, refractory sheath of wind named Invisible Air, is a familiar comfort. The blade was easily called forth from its spiritual form into the physical world to serve her, just as it was back when she took the role of a Servant.

Another foe rushes in and the summoned woman crushes her opponent's latest offence with a downward push from Invisible Air. The sheath of wind locks down the weapon of the enemy group's sole male, a bright blue polearm with a hollow opening in its large spear head.

At this distance, and illuminated by the glow of the construct of light, Artoria has a relatively clear view of her enemy. The lone male of the winged folk obscures himself in a full grey trench coat and a black brimmed fedora, which reveals little more than straight brown hair and handsomely-aged features. The outfit also helps hide the man's minute body motions and makes him the greatest challenge among the four for Artoria to predict the movements of, though it doesn't amount to much against their vast difference in ability.

Artoria has found the enemy's light constructs are vulnerable to sufficient force. The knight feels the temptation to smash this one, then reverse her blade to cleave her foe's head off in one fell swoop. A fatal attack is the Honorable thing to do in a fight to the death, after all.

The winged man's refusal to let go of his locked-down spear makes him vulnerable to the body check which Artoria actually chooses to perform instead of a deathblow. The girl's unarmored shoulder connects to the man's abdomen and sends him into a painful backward roll across the floor.

Given her foe's surprised expression, Artoria has no doubt the man suspected the raw power behind all her previous attacks to be an effect of her magical weapon, rather than her raw physical strength. Because of the assumption, the man was not ready for the knight's small body to be capable of producing extreme force all on its own. Now the group will all know better than to underestimate their blonde opponent.

It won't help them.

Mana Burst. This is the name Artoria's favored combat technique was given. Even though King Arthur is no magus, she did have an enormous reserve of magical energy in life. Artoria channels power through her body and releases it as a propulsive force to amplify her speed, momentum, and impact many times over. The technique gave Artoria the strength to achieve heroic status without the aid of the World, and to fight fellow legends in the Holy Grail Wars.

Artoria thinks back to the kick which blew the albino priest away from the one who called her. The blow was amplified by a Mana Burst, performed as a test to help the knight grasp the changes she had begun to sense within herself.

The foes around Artoria scramble into a new arrangement. The knight's last opponent also recovers from the body blow he was dealt. The man looks unhappy to have been treated like a plaything rather than a serious threat. Artoria shares the sentiment.

 _'I do not know this place, its people, or its politics,'_ Artoria reminds herself to stave off the desire to end the fight lethally. _'But I do know war, and I cannot bring it upon my charge.'_

If Asia were to be rescued in a manner which started a large-scale conflict between supernatural beings all around her, as the redheaded woman claimed it would, then Artoria doubts the girl would remain safe for long. Such an unsatisfactory result to the rescue of a maiden would hurt the pride of the King of Knights far more than holding back in a fight does, so she continues on with a focus on her goal.

Another spear flies across the room toward Artoria's head. The knight leans back just a scant amount and watches as the weapon soars across her field of vision faster than the blink of an eye. This spear is pink and has a thin shaft with a double-layered spearhead, as do all the ones crafted by Artoria's blonde foe.

The knight shifts her green gaze to find her latest attacker. This fallen angel is the smallest of the three, approximately an inch shorter than Artoria herself. The girl with twintails is dressed in a black and white _Gothic_ _Lolita_ dress which, unlike her male counterpart, offers no real combat benefit the knight can perceive. One cannot discount the possibility of an enchanted clothing set, however.

In Artoria's original world, items created to utilize magecraft were called mystic codes and were relatively rare by Shirou's time. In this world, where winged people fight with spears of pure energy and call simple magecraft by the title of magic, Artoria isn't sure how likely it is for any given object to hold hidden power.

The blonde one's back is turned to Artoria. The girl sneers at the knight, her blue eyes and pale lips contorted into a form far too cruel for such a youthful face. Artoria watches as the blonde flies away in yet another escape attempt by these aerial foes.

Artoria would normally run to catch the girl with a burst of speed from her Mana Burst, but the warrior's trained senses warn her to jump forward instead. As the knight leaps, another spear strikes the floor where Artoria would have been had she rushed ahead. Instead, Artoria uses Mana Burst to go up and over the blonde in flight. The heavily-armoured warrior ignores the failed sneak attack for now and displays unnatural agility with a flip to kick off of the ceiling from. Artoria then somersaults again on the way down to smash the frilly girl into the floor with her steel boots. The impact is just hard enough to not break the enemy clean through into the room below.

Artoria looks around for the source of the attempted surprise attack. The knight had been right to suspect a trap.

Instinct. That is the name given to King Arthur's ability to see through the flow of a fight and find the best options available. This insight was refined through a lifetime of conflicts. Even without a Servant Class to grant this innate sense as a true supernatural power, as it was in the Holy Grail Wars, Artoria is glad to find she still hasn't lost its natural form despite her soul's countless years of peace in Avalon. Even after the duty of the king has been fulfilled, the girl's experiences are all still a part of who she is. Instinct represents King Arthur's lifetime of warfare better than any weapon she might wield.

Invisible Air, Mana Burst, and Instinct together are what have allowed Artoria to successfully contain four opponents with the power of flight within this one room for as long as she has. Artoria isn't sure how her new living body scales in power compared to when she had a Servant Class, but it is enough to handle this task.

Invisible Air swings out to swat away another light spear less than a second after Artoria impacts the floor atop her blonde foe. Like the last weapon which was thrown at her, this one is yellow with a large spearhead on one side and a smaller one on the other. Artoria knows these spears belong to the woman with the long, dark blue hair.

Artoria dashes to her target, guided by her Instinct and the trajectories of the last two shots. A spear lances out at Artoria right through an overturned couch, just as she anticipates it will, and the tip misses the top of her blonde hair by a fraction of an inch when she ducks. The spear even manages to pass right by Artoria's one high-standing strand of hair without incident.

The swipe of a gauntlet-clad hand flings the punctured furniture aside, its weight negligible to the small girl, and reveals the winged woman behind it. This woman, the oldest-looking of the three, looks down on Artoria with mature, coldly beautiful features and a steady yellow-eyed glare.

Of all of the knight's current foes, this one's choice of attire seems to be the most actively inhibiting in battle. The only benefit Artoria can deduce for the tight, maroon coat and micro skirt being worn over such an abnormally curvaceous figure would be to distract those unable to control their own base desire for the female form in a fight. No knight of Camelot would fall for such a thing, though.

Artoria certainly hopes her men wouldn't have, at least.

Invisible Air sweeps in from the same direction the couch was thrown, but underneath the airborne piece of furniture. The blue-haired woman's feet are knocked out from under her by the flat side of the blade. Before the winged being can right herself in the air, Artoria next brings the unseen weapon up high in a two-handed grip and slams it back down, right onto the creature's face, this time with a magnitude more force behind it than the last time she struck one of them in the head. The woman's skull cracks the floor.

She stays down.

 _'That much,'_ Artoria thinks. The knight has increased the strength of her knockout blows with each attempt, and now she knows how much force is required to render one of these fallen angels insensate.

Movement in her peripheral vision brings Artoria's focus to the last of her female enemies. The brunette is back on her feet, supported by one of her thin and wavy red spears as if it were a cane. This last fallen angel is, somehow, the most outrageously dressed of them all. If the former king were to offer a positive appraisal of the few thin pieces of black fabric which cover a minimum of the raven-haired woman's body, it could only be that the outfit seems to offer nearly full freedom of movement.

This woman has acted the most like the leader of the group, though only because she barks orders at the others. The brunette, Artoria notes, has also demonstrated the most emotional instability among the four of them so far, not a quality fit for a good leader.

 _'Raynare,'_ Artoria recalls. The woman declared her name at some point. This one has asked Artoria the most questions throughout the conflict, or at least ranted at her out loud more than the other three, until she gave up on getting any response. Almost all of the enemies' dialogue so far has been disregarded as irrelevant by Artoria since they do nothing but question or deride her, and offer little insight into their own nature or situation. Artoria doubts the fallen angels would be cooperative even if she were inclined to speak with them, which she is not.

A line of blood runs down from Raynare's scalp over her right eye, a memento of her last failed assault on Artoria. The injured woman rears herself up in the air on her wings, holds two red spears in her hands, and charges forth with a berserk fury.

Invisible Air catches both incoming weapons with one swing, and a Mana Burst slaps them away so hard Raynare is sent spinning away into a corner with a loud crash. Despite this setback, the raven-haired woman is eager to continue her assault. Raynare's allies all try to reorient themselves as she rushes right back into melee range.

 _'Should I test my endurance?'_ Artoria ponders as she weaves around several erratic spear thrusts. _'I am alive again, but I can summon my weapon and armor like I did as a Servant. Would this Holy Grail have granted me a Saber Class Servant's boost to my magic resistance as well?'_

The question is an important one. As an inheritor of the Red Dragon's blood, Artoria has always had naturally high resistance to mortal magecraft. The matching ability of the Saber Class only made the knight's protection from spells all the more potent during the Holy Grail Wars. However, the redheaded woman called these beings fallen angels, and if they really are this world's version of a Divine Phantasmal Beast then even their relatively weak light spears may penetrate her magic resistance due to their higher origin.

An even more troubling question is: even if the white-haired girl confirmed Artoria's nature is the same as it was before, does the body given to her by this world's Holy Grail still possess the magical defences she had in life? Until the presence of the royal's old resistance is verified then it is possible even normal magecraft, or just 'magic' in this world, is a genuine threat. Some of those questions could be answered now.

Artoria witnesses one more terrible thrust from the emotionally-unstable enemy before her and clamps down on her idea.

 _'No,'_ the knight decides, then immediately sends Raynare away with a vicious blow to the head from her left gauntlet. Even if information on this body's defences would be nice to know, Artoria's pride is already under enough stress from the dishonorable form of combat she has been forced to engage in. To allow such an unworthy foe to possibly draw her blood, even a single drop of it, would be intolerable.

Around the room the other three fallen angels all rouse themselves back into battle stances. Even the blue-haired woman has regained her senses with the male's aid. None of the creatures appear healed of their physical injuries, Artoria observes, they are simply able to bear the pain which has been inflicted so far and keep going. None of the enemies try to make a break for it this time, though. Artoria has taught them how little such a course will achieve.

The King of Knights draws a breath and grasps Invisible Air before her with both hands. Artoria is prepared to continue this farce of a battle for the sake of her promise to save Asia… and for one other reason. The memory of the one she holds dearest.

 _'For Shirou.'_

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

"President, please!"

"Absolutely not."

Despite the touch of Asia's Twilight Healing, which once more soothes his body, Issei still tenses in frustration. The teen breaks his gaze away from his beautiful master and instead stares indignantly at the wall of the alley he currently leans both his palms on. The Gremory Peerage has gathered in this out-of-sight nook to let the last bits of light be cleansed from their fellow's system.

Issei suggested he should go back since Asia is a safe distance away now, but it wasn't taken well by the others.

"But she said she would wait for me. If I don't go back for her she might stay long enough for more fallen angels to show up!"

Despite using it as an argument, Issei doesn't actually think the stated scenario would be much of a problem for his mysterious savior. The blonde had given everyone back there the impression of absolute confidence. Confidence doesn't change how Issei feels about someone being left to fight for him by themselves, though.

"Unless higher members of Grigori, the fallen angels' organization, show up, I doubt it will be a problem for her," Rias says slowly. When Issei looks back there is an expression of consideration in the redhead's blue eyes, and her gaze is focused off to the side. "Koneko's nose is never wrong, and even a weak dragon is something beyond the lower fallen angels."

 _'There's that word again,'_ Issei notices with a frown. The boy turns his attention to the white-haired girl whose impassive face seems slightly stonier than usual.

"Was she really a dragon?" Issei asks. "I mean, she looked…"

 _'Beautiful…'_

"… human, right?"

Koneko nods once, her amber eyes more occupied with the green glow of Twilight Healing than Issei himself.

"Have smelled dragons before," is the short but unexpected elaboration. "No mistake."

In the short time Issei has known her, the young woman has been the type to remain silent, not offer more details. Issei takes Koneko's spoken response as a sign of how rattled she is by the truth of her claim.

Rias nods, but when Issei glances around the alley for confirmation from the others he notices his fellow servants seem a bit surprised by this news, even the occult research club's usually casual vice-president.

 _'I assumed Akeno-senpai has been with the president the longest since they seem like best friends,'_ Issei realizes as he takes in the small sight of the willfully stoic Koneko once more. _'But maybe not?'_

Issei suddenly becomes aware that his new life as a devil has always been framed in ways to make it all about him. Serve to earn promotions, work to get the desired rewards, etc. What about Rias's other servants though? What are their stories and desires? What kind of adventures have Rias and Koneko shared together, which caused the tiny high school freshman to come within sniffing-distance of a real-life dragon?

"I've heard some dragons can assume a human shape, if they desire," Yuuto adds to Koneko's explanation and cuts off Issei's train of thought. The swordsman guards the alley's entrance and keeps watch for the group, but even with his eyes away from them the boy's ears can't help but follow the topic of everyone's interest. The blond's posture is tenser than Issei has ever seen before, even compared to when they were in the middle of a fight just minutes ago. "I don't think it's a common ability, though."

"How she came at all is what I can't understand," Akeno says. The brunette rests her right cheek against one delicate hand and holds her elbow up with the other. The pose is exactly what one would expect of a classy Japanese lady who is lamenting some unexpected difficulty. Despite the graceful body language, when Akeno's eyes open her lips straighten into a thin line and her expression becomes far more serious. "I've never felt control of a spell be taken away from me like that before, and I've certainly never heard of a noble devil family's magic circle being used by someone else."

The reminder brings a fresh wave of silence to the alley among the devils who are experienced enough to recognize what a big deal these events are. Issei just takes a deep breath and accepts he can't appreciate how unexpected what they are discussing is. To ask about it now is the last thing on the boy's priority list, to be honest. All Issei cares about is the chance to repay the woman who saved Asia, which he can't do if they all abandon her.

Asia's power fades as Akeno speaks, which indicates her work is done. Issei is honestly surprised by how great he feels now. The brunet could almost believe the horrible wounds Freed inflicted on him were just a bad dream, if not for the obvious blood stains and torn holes still in his clothes. Issei turns around just in time to see Asia pull her own damaged outfit back together.

The perverted teen tries not to feel disappointed at being a second too late.

"I wonder what she wanted to ask," Yuuto ponders out loud, which proves his mind is still on the mystery at hand. "Whatever it was, she indicated Issei was the answer."

Rias frowns at the reminder and plants her hands on her hips before she turns her attention to Issei. The boy feels his master's curiosity wash over him as she tries to guess at an explanation.

"Oh? Perhaps our Issei has caught her interest?" Akeno teases. The third-year student's expression once more shifts into her usual prim smile and she takes a few steps toward the boy. Akeno comes to a stop with Asia between her and Issei, then leans over and into the shorter girl to close the gap. Asia seems surprised by the physical closeness and looks back up at Akeno curiously. "You certainly are a fast worker. Have you collected a couple of cute blondes for your dream already?"

Issei witnesses Asia's face – the girl's head rather close to his due to being pushed forward by Akeno's bust – look totally and innocently puzzled by the older girl's comment. Issei himself doesn't doubt his own face is bright red.

 _'My dream isn't something a nice girl like Asia needs to hear about right now!'_

"E-enough of that, Akeno-senpai!" Issei pleads with a wave of his hands and a rapid backpedal. All the request earns the teen is an amused giggle from the brunette. "We need to take care of Asia right now!"

Those words bring a sense of attention back to the group, which banishes the brief respite of levity Akeno's antics gave them.

"Issei, about that, you have to understand the situation hasn't changed," Rias reminds the boy with a posture which wouldn't be out of place on a teacher giving a classroom lecture. "Whatever she was doing there, Asia is a member of the Church. They are our enemies. We can't keep her with us."

Issei has a thousand rebuttals on the tip of his tongue he is ready to unleash upon his master. Most of them are either incoherent, or just various slightly-reworded versions of a single appeal to morality, to be honest, but the boy never gets to use a single one of them anyway. Asia beats him to it.

"I'm no longer a member of the Church. I was excommunicated."

There is more than one surprised glance sent in the blonde's direction, even from the typically unflappable Koneko. Asia bears the attention with as much solemn dignity as can be expected of someone holding her own clothes together, but the sorrow in her voice is more than evident.

"Raynare and the others… they were the only ones who offered to take me in. I didn't know what to do or where to go, so…"

Asia's green eyes glance down. There must be a rush of bad memories which the confession has summoned.

"Asia," Issei says softly. The teen wants to say more, to help the girl in front of him, but no brilliant words of comfort spring to mind and his speech trails off uselessly.

Somehow, Issei isn't sure why, just the girl's name being said by him seems to be enough. Asia looks the boy's way and smiles with more gratitude in her face than the young man has ever seen someone express to him. Issei is left speechless, while Asia turns her attention back to Rias.

"I don't know a lot about devils, but… you are Issei's master?" Asia asks hesitantly.

"I am," Rias responds, her princess-like demeanor back in full force as she gazes down imperiously at the blonde.

Asia seems to shock the assembled devils, minus Issei, when she throws herself into a deep bow before the redhead.

"My name is Asia Argento. Please let me stay with Issei," the girl pleads, the raw emotion in her voice more than enough to move any mortal heart. "He is… the only friend I have in the world. I promise I'll behave while I'm in your care."

Issei wants to tell the girl she shouldn't have to make any such promises just to get help from a friend, but he bites his tongue. Asia's words seem to have an effect on Rias, and the boy doesn't want to break the spell. The redhead actually grimaces slightly, but then she blinks and the steel is back in her eyes.

Issei's heart breaks. The boy is sure the next words to come out of his master's mouth will be a rejection. The decision will be made with the safety of Rias's own people in mind, but it will be a rejection nonetheless. The devil's lips part, her unwanted answer ready to be let loose.

Asia straightens up suddenly, clasps her hands together, and looks straight into Rias's blue eyes with her own tear-filled orbs.

"Please?"

For one agonizing moment, Issei thinks it might not be enough. Rias Gremory is a pure-blooded devil, a legendary being beyond human morality and emotions. Surely, the boy thinks, such a creature would be immune to a simple, age-old trick like this. Yet, after the moment passes, Rias's feet shift. The redhead's posture loosens, her eyes soften, and her imperial aura turns into one of surrender.

Apparently, even being a natural-born devil is not enough to withstand the level of puppy dog eyes Asia is capable of unleashing.

"Akeno," Rias speaks in her commander persona's tone while she steps away from the sight of Asia's face. The girl's eyes are closed and her arms are crossed. "Please see to Issei and Asia's clothes."

"Yes, Miss President," the other senior student says with a smirk, apparently amused by the sight of her master's defeat at the hands of such a small human girl. Akeno steps toward the pair, but Issei is certain neither of them are quite sure what she is about to do. The older girl summons a small red magic circle in front of her right hand and points it at the disheveled pair. All the torn and bloodstained clothes glow briefly, then begin to clean themselves, connect back together, and fill in the missing gaps with new material. When the light fades both Issei's school uniform and Asia's religious habit look pristine.

"Wow, that's incredible!" The boy exclaims in gratitude to his school senior while Asia bows to her. Between this and Asia's Sacred Gear, the fight with Freed really does seem like just a horrible nightmare now. Akeno nods in acceptance of the two's gratitude.

"Are we taking the girl back to the club room, President?" Yuuto asks, his own formerly stiff posture also apparently loosened by Asia's earnestness.

"Yes," the redhead answers, her blue eyes open to the world once more. "We all need to discuss exactly what happened back there, and what we're going to do about it."

"I can't go back without that girl, President!" Issei interrupts. "She saved us!"

"She put you in danger by taking away our escape route!" Rias responds in a harsh tone. Issei thinks perhaps those words reveal the true source of the devil's enmity toward the blonde stranger.

"An escape without Asia would have been no good anyway!" Issei counters. The boy's desire to pay the armoured woman back pushes him to confront his master head-on. "Whoever she is, she's the reason we all got out of there together!"

"Issei, we have no idea what the dragon wants with you. It's too dangerous to send you to her."

Issei is about to argue back when he notices Rias's eyes glance down at his left hand. The red plates of the boy's Sacred Gear still encompass his forearm. The brief pause while Issei wonders what the gauntlet has to do with anything is enough for a third voice to break into the confrontation.

"I think she wants to protect him," Asia offers, her hands clasped together in thought. When Rias looks her way the blonde casts her gaze skyward and recalls a recent memory. "When she stopped Freed from killing Issei she looked… really happy."

Of course, Issei recalls, when it happened Asia was underneath… er... that is to say, she would have seen the serene expression on the woman's face just like he had. All of the other devils only witnessed the dragon's stern glare.

 _'No wonder none of them want me to go back,'_ Issei thinks. _'Her glare was scary.'_

"And what if her idea of protecting Issei means taking him away from us?" Rias asks in rebuttal. "Will you be alright with that, Asia?"

The conflicted look on the blonde's face says she doubts that is actually the case, but it also says she really wouldn't be alright it.

"From what I've heard of dragons, they aren't known for sharing," Yuuto offers from the side. The young man has yet to let his eyes stray from the street, despite his engagement with the topic at hand. The teen's focus on their escape path never wavers, even while he converses. "If she wants you for something, then it's possible she will decide to take you, with or without your or the president's consent."

 _'And that is a bad thing,'_ Issei has to remind himself. Oh, well. Being abducted by a beautiful woman to serve at her pleasure isn't high on Issei's list of personal fantasies, anyway. Not super high, at least. Top twenty, at best. Sounds like it would be detrimental to becoming a harem king, anyway.

"If she's so dangerous then trying to ignore her doesn't sound like a good idea either!" Issei argues, desperate now to get any sort of concession out of his master which won't abandon his newest savior. From the way Rias stills at the boy's words, Issei thinks he might have found a weak point to exploit. Asia showed her courage when she stood up for herself to Rias, so Issei can't bring himself to do any less. "You don't want her to try hunting me down later, right?"

Everyone quiets. The possible scenario Issei just brought up plays through the minds of the devils present. When everyone's imaginations are done, they all stay quiet when the scenario plays out again, but in an even worse way this time. This pattern continues for a while. The group can't seem to think of any positive outcomes from a dragon on the hunt.

The silence is broken when Rias seems to have enough of the terrible premonitions and takes a deep breath.

"Issei. Asia. You will both come back to the club room with Koneko and I," the redhead announces. Issei's immediate protest dies in his throat when Rias's hand swings up in a 'stop' gesture right in front of his face. "It is far too dangerous to send you back there, and you need to take responsibility for Asia as well."

Well, Issei can hardly argue with Rias's claim. Just a single glance at Asia's beautiful doe eyes as they look at the boy in concern is enough to make him feel like putty in her hands.

"Akeno. Yuuto," Rias continues to instruct. "You will survey the scene. Do not approach if there is fighting, and return to the club room immediately if no one is there. If the dragon still remains, you may attempt to speak and discern her intentions. I'll leave it to you to decide if she can be trusted."

Both students nod, the grim expressions on their faces a sign of how much more serious the orders are to them than Issei can really understand.

"If she attacks you or is too untrustworthy to bring to me, your first priority is to flee at all costs."

The devil servants confirm they understand and depart back onto the street the group came from. Issei doesn't know whether it would be appropriate to wish them luck or not, but decides to stay silent.

"Now, as for you," Rias continues, her eyes centered on Asia. "If I am going to take you into my care then I will require a full explanation of your circumstances. When we get to the school you will tell me everything you know about those fallen angels as well."

Issei can't help but think the redhead just wants to make it sound like she didn't cave into Asia's irresistible request for aid without any conditions of her own, but he doesn't dare voice this insight. The boy just watches quietly as Asia stands up straight under Rias's scrutiny and then bows with a perfectly respectful "Yes ma'am!" to the devil.

Issei follows the order, aware this is the best he will get from his master. The young man just hopes the woman who saved him will still be alright when he sees her again.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

 _'I can't keep doing this.'_

Artoria can only assume these fallen angels are supposed to be some form of Phantasmal Beast in the world she has been summoned to, but even without her Saber Class, the knight has still had little trouble containing them with nonlethal force. The ease of the task doesn't mean the King of Knights hasn't begun to realize a troublesome problem with her current strategy, however.

The blonde winged woman crashes into an already-overturned sofa and snaps it in half with her small body. Artoria's attention doesn't even follow the girl's redirected trajectory long enough to observe the painful landing. Instead, the knight quickly redirects her focus onto the blue-haired one, who dive-bombs her from above immediately after. The yellow spear's descent is halted by the invisible barrier held up in Artoria's two hands. Without so much as a beat to catch her breath, the winged woman backs away through the air and Artoria has to spin a gauntlet behind her to smash away one of two more spears coming for her back.

The fallen angels begin to dart in and out constantly, sometimes getting in each other's way but still using their numbers to the fullest advantage and giving almost no room for counterattacks.

 _'Their stamina is plentiful,'_ the knight observes from behind the pointed tip of her invisible blade. Not one of the fallen angels are out of breath, nor have they grown sluggish in their movements over time despite the constant frenetic activity required of their current tactic.

The blue-haired woman returns again, this time in sync with the black-haired one, as they try a pincer attack on Artoria's right and left sides. With two quick Mana Bursts Artoria dashes to her left, then her right, to strike both women out of the air with the flat of her blade before they can even fully close in on her. The blonde then returns to her original position without so much as a hair out of place (Well, not a second hair at least. There is always the one!). Those blows seem to finally knock some wind out of the women's sails, and the two brace empty hands over fresh bruises on their abdomens. The brunette's bare torso makes the ugly splotches plain to see.

 _'…though they seem to be incapable of healing their wounds,'_ Artoria adds while her green eyes rove over every other clear bruise and nick she has inflicted upon the rest of the quartet throughout their skirmish. None of the scratches or welts have reduced in size at all throughout the battle.

The four winged humanoids all clearly realize Artoria will not be overwhelmed by their incompetent teamwork. Despite this, the enemies still rise to their feet around the knight. Each one looks battered, but each one also scowls at their blonde foe with furious hatred. Artoria bears the creatures' combined fury with grace and poise, of course. Not once does the knight reveal a shred of discomfort or uncertainty.

 _'And yet their will to fight is not lessened at all,'_ Artoria concludes from the bright determination which burns in each of her foes' eyes.

It is, perhaps, the most troublesome combination of traits Artoria could have encountered, given her current circumstances.

 _'I have no means to restrain them, they won't tire, they won't stay unconscious, and they refuse to give up.'_

The fallen angels always wake up in seconds whenever they are laid low, but because the creatures clearly do not heal quickly or magically it is impossible for Artoria to safely increase the force of her blows to keep them down longer, not without further risk of lethal injury. The physical wounds on the four are also a reminder of the knight's temptation to kill her enemies chivalrously. The constant mental strain between this battle's situation and the knight's beliefs wears on her far more than the physical exertion.

There is another, and utterly detestable, method to end combat with a weaker opponent without mortal injury. Artoria's chivalrous spirit rebels even further at the thought of the deed, but her oath rings in her mind and steadies her course. To bring war to the knight's new master would be no way to serve him.

The foe with twintails is the first of the four to run out of patience with their brief reprieve from battle. The girl shrieks forward with a reckless thrust while her allies hang back and ready themselves to act on any opportunities created by the charge.

None of the hostiles even flinch when Artoria gracefully sidesteps the attack by a scant amount, for this is nothing new. The winged group's eyes do widen, however, when they witness their blonde ally's left wing be caught from behind as she passes by her target. The black-clad girl is whipped up and around to face back the way she came by Artoria's hand, and then slammed forcefully down onto the floorboards with a painful rattle. The knight's gaze remains solidly on the other three throughout the maneuver. A secondary impact from Artoria's steel boot to the smaller girl's back holds the fallen angel securely in place beneath her.

The three other enemies watch with grit teeth and angry eyes, but Artoria stares right back at them with an unchanged expression. The prone one lashes out verbally, but Artoria doesn't bother to listen to the specifics of her insults. There is business to take care of.

"Tell me," the former king commands. These are Artoria's first words to her foes since she declared herself their keeper at the start of the conflict. All of the fallen angels take notice and pause. "Would the loss of your wings be a fatal injury?"

The enemies stare at the knight for a while, clear confusion mixed with their expected surprise. Artoria's hard look back at the group brokers no choice but to take her question seriously, though.

"What kind of stupid question is that!? Where have you been all your life?" The blonde held face-down on the floor exclaims first. The girl's position offers her protection from the knight's direct glare, and the broken silence invites the others to join in.

"Of course it wouldn't be fatal, you idiot!" Raynare adds with outrage. "Our wings will always come back as long as we live!"

"Not that you could remove them anyway," the blue-haired one adds in a low tone. The woman's dismissive look shows she has reevaluated her opinion of Artoria for the worse. "Such a thing is almost impossible."

"An angel's wings are the very embodiment of our power," the last one states as a matter of fact. The man stands up straight now and looks down at Artoria from across the room, blue spear still held tightly in his gloved hand. "No mere brute force or simple magic weapon would be enough to separate them from us, not even one wielded by a being as strong as you."

Despite the fallen angels' added derisive comments, the former king is pleased to see she still possesses the charisma to command a room. Possibly without the realization they were doing it, Artoria's foes still gave her the information she sought even while they questioned why she would ask about a well-known topic. Now the summoned spirit knows all she needs to know.

 _'If no simple magic weapon will do,'_ the knight thinks. _'Then it won't be a problem.'_

Artoria moves her free right hand, the one still clasped around her blade's invisible hilt, across her body. The knight's other hand gathers the captured blonde's two wings together and holds them up straight. All of the fallen angels look at Artoria like she is about to make a fool of herself when her intention becomes clear. The two least emotional among them, the tallest ones, actually ready themselves to act. Artoria deduces the pair's intent to capitalize on her weapon being caught in place when it fails to cut through the blonde's feathery appendages. A sound strategic preparation, but a worthless one in this case.

Artoria barely feels any resistance when she sweeps her arm back across herself to the other side. The first spilled drops of fallen angel blood to touch the knight in this fight splash against her blue tabard, and the room is filled with a shocked silence.

The blonde girl's screams cut through the addled minds of her fellows. Unfortunately for them, the sound also serves as the signal Artoria waited for. The knight lets go of the severed wings in her one hand, kicks the maimed creature beneath her away, and then dashes to the side of the blue-haired woman before she can recover her wits. Invisible Air flashes unseen across the target's back in an upward arc and in the next moment another mass of bloodstained feathers hits the floor.

The last two fallen angels try to flee in opposite directions, both while they shout about what the knight has done being impossible. Artoria expected as much and doesn't give any consideration to the words. This farce of a battle is finally near its end and the blonde is eager to finish it.

A Mana Burst places Artoria in front of Raynare, who's panicked mindset is incapable of any worthwhile self-defense at the moment. A solid kick to the brunette's gut sends her back to the center of the room in a painful tumble.

Another Mana Burst allows Artoria to flash to the opposite side of the home before the male can escape through a wall, which he has blasted an exit hole in with a thrown spear. The knight's hand clamps down on the man's ankle to stop him in mid-air, then bodily spins the warrior around to be thrown back into the room where Raynare just landed.

Nobody moves.

Above the group, the swirl of purple lights that has been present since before Artoria arrived fades away.

 _'So, their spirit is finally broken,'_ Artoria observes as she walks calmly back toward her last two foes. The women who have already had their wings removed are both on the ground, the first in vocal pain and the other in quiet shock. Raynare received a strong enough blow to her body to have knocked her unconscious if it had been to her head, which has left her stunned for the last couple of seconds. Lastly, the male among them seems to comprehend his inevitable fate and simply sits on the floor, his dark blue eyes locked on Artoria with despair.

"It can't be," the man whispers, quietly enough to be more to himself than to his assailant. "I thought of it when I saw the weapon was invisible, but... surely, we would have heard if it was missing!"

Artoria barely hears the man's words over the cries of the other fallen angel, and she pays them no more mind than she did the group's other denials before these. The knight stops in front of her target and raises Invisible Air with one hand while she reaches forward with the other.

"Could it really be... an Excalibur?"

For the first time since the other group fled the scene, Artoria's stoic mask is shattered. The change is a relatively small thing, actually, but the knight freezes mid-motion and her focused green eyes widen a scant amount. Compared to Artoria's strict composure so far, the body language is practically the equivalent of a shout.

 _'How?!'_ the legendary king wonders. The purpose of Invisible Air is to give no hint to the identity of her world-famous sword. Try as she might, Artoria cannot see what clues might have led this fallen angel to correctly deduce she wields Excalibur against them... or rather, that she wields 'an Excalibur' against them. An interesting choice of words, but now is not the time to ponder them.

The man on the floor's eyes come back into focus on Artoria's face, then widen in response. The brunet has noticed the woman's small reaction and begins to take a breath to speak. Artoria has no doubt the man intends to further question her on the subject.

She also has no intention to answer him.

The man's head is forced down by the knight's free hand before he can say any more. A single sweep with the greatest holy sword of Artoria's home reality removes the fallen angel's wings a fraction of a second before Artoria's knee connects with his face. The man is thrown back, out cold, into Raynare as she tries to rise to her feet.

Artoria sets her sights on her last foe and steps forward. The knight's features are set into a determined focus once again. King Arthur's sword may or may not be exposed, but she will not let it keep her from the task at hand.

Raynare's colorful screams are the final bell which ring an end to the fight.

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

 _'Curse... her...'_ Raynare seethes. The fallen angel's body feels weaker and more helpless than she can ever remember being. Pure outrage fuels the girl to push her limp arms against the floor, but they shudder uselessly and fail to lift her up. Raynare collapses from the effort in seconds and ends up with a mouthful of carpet.

Intellectually, the brunette knows a two-winged fallen angel like her will take several days to grow out her wings again. Raynare also knows, with the symbol of her power gone, her body's strength has largely left her as well. There is almost no chance the woman will be able to stand up by her own effort, let alone achieve any revenge against the one who left two stumps to bleed out on her back.

She'll try again once she catches her breath.

 _'I won't let her take this away from me!'_ Raynare swears. _'Asia is my chance! There's no other way for me to get-'_

Raynare's train of thought is cut off by the moans of her subordinates. The woman curses the other three and their inability to help her almost as much as she does the Dragon… knight… whatever-she-is… who did this to them. The sight of some of the severed wings which lay on the floor around the fallen angel does draw Raynare's violet gaze, though, and causes her thoughts to pause.

A distant memory, brought on by the sight and the plan for Asia, begins to rise.

A loud thump draws Raynare's tired eyes to a corner where the blonde knight has retrieved Freed and thrown him to the floor. The albino exorcist awakens quickly enough thanks to his strong constitution. Freed also immediately begins to attempt retaliation on the woman who ruined his chance to kill the devils earlier.

Raynare doesn't even bother to pay attention to exactly how Freed is put back down again; the sounds of empty threats and dull thumps are more than enough to know how well it goes. The man's foul language is about as effective a weapon against the knight as his empty hands... or four fallen angels, for that matter.

What Raynare does gather from the brief exchange is the blonde has ordered Freed to collect her and the others and help them all leave. Apparently, the woman has decided the group is no longer a threat to her charges.

She isn't wrong, damn her.

Raynare's consciousness blurs enough to make time difficult to keep track of, but she does eventually feel a hand grab hold of her arm and drag her up with no gentleness whatsoever. Freed must have finally figured out he truth: if he ever wants to kill devils again then he'll need to take the knight's offer of a tactical retreat. Since none of the wingless fallen angels will have the power to generate a transportation spell, an escape on foot is the only option.

Raynare blinks the spots out of her eyes to see Dohnaseek, his fedora lost, aid the small Mittelt limp toward the exit. The two practically hold each other up, a difficult balance thanks to their weight difference. On Freed's other side, Kalawarner is being dragged along as roughly as Raynare herself, both women barely on their feet at all.

"Wings," Raynare forces out of her mouth.

"Eh?" Freed questions with a nasally whine.

"Take them," the woman instructs, annoyed she is unable to lift her head and look Freed in the eye as she orders him.

"Why the hell should I do that? You'll grow your own back, won't you?"

"Faster," Raynare excuses. Reattachment would be the swiftest recovery method for the fallen angels, so it isn't a lie.

Freed must have looked to the blonde for permission because he doesn't follow the command right away. Raynare doesn't hear any response from the knight, but their foe must not have signaled Freed negatively either because the next thing she knows both her and Kalawarner are unceremoniously dropped back to the floor.

Raynare suffers the indignity in silent rage. Freed eventually returns and hoists the raven-haired sinner back up, this time thrown over his right shoulder. Raynare sees the bundle of black feathers gathered under one of his arms while the other hoists her blue-haired subordinate along.

The brunette's position also allows her to send one last cold look back at the armoured woman who so soundly defeated all of them. The blonde stands in the middle of the room, her features still as dispassionate as ever, and watches Freed carry the women out in silence.

Raynare suppresses the desire to smile cruelly within the knight's vision.

 _'Next time, I'll take_ ** _all_** _of_ ** _your_** _limbs off. Just you wait.'_

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

Yuuto Kiba doesn't know how to feel.

On one hand, Yuuto owes his life to Rias. Whatever the redheaded devil decides is best, her blond servant will attempt to uphold. At least, Yuuto hopes he will. To take in an excommunicated member of the Church is a risk, but not necessarily more of one than other members of her household were. Unfortunately, Yuuto is also aware he has a particular weakness, which brings him to the other hand.

 _'Why would a dragon wield an Excalibur?'_

The blonde girl's invisible weapon might have been little more than a curiosity to the other devils who fled the scene, so brief was their exposure to it, but for Yuuto it was a reminder of his greatest tragedy. One of the most famous weapons capable of total invisibility is a holy sword which Yuuto despises, and he isn't sure what he will do if his guess about this weapon's identity turns out to be correct.

"We're here," Akeno says when the house is in view once more. The words ought to have been unnecessary, but Yuuto is glad to have his mind pulled out of his worries and focused back onto the task at hand. The young man has to loosen the unconscious death grip he placed on the hilt of his sword.

"It sounds like the fight is over," Yuuto adds. The two Gremory servants retraced their steps back here slowly since they did not desire to become caught in the battle. Yuuto's enhanced senses don't pick up any signs of life now, even this close. "How should we proceed?"

"I'll be prepared to create a circle for escape," the older girl explains. It is probably the memory of what happened to Akeno's last circle which makes her mouth curve into a small pout. "Scout ahead silently."

Yuuto nods. The blond approaches the home with his weapon in its sheath, but is ready to draw it at a moment's notice. Akeno remains a few paces behind Yuuto as they ascend the stairs. Neither one knows what to expect in the remnants of a dragon's battle.

The search is a short one. By the time the pair reach the stairs to the entrance their ears are able to pick up on faint, steady breaths inside. Yuuto catches Akeno's eye and nods before he opens the door.

The scent of blood still dominates the house, especially to a devil's nose. Blood is a smell Yuuto has already learned to cope with, though. The interior looks much the same, save for some new cracks in the floor and more overturned furniture. It is far less destruction than Yuuto expected to find.

There, plain to see on an unstained patch of floor, is the woman whom the two devils are here for. When Yuuto first saw the girl he thought an angel had descended to join the fray. Given the boy's low opinion of Heaven, it had not been a happy thought. Even now the blonde looks unnaturally serene while she kneels in a seiza, her hands in her lap and her eyes closed.

The green eyes snap open as soon as Yuuto and Akeno are both fully inside. The boy almost flinches under the fresh scrutiny of the girl's stern face.

"Is Asia safe?" the blonde asks as she rises to her feet.

Surprise colours Yuuto's thoughts. The boy has to admit, of all the ways he'd imagined a conversation with this person could go, this hadn't been the start to any of them. _'Is she here for more than just Hyoudou?'_

"Yes. Asia requested our master's protection and is with her now," Akeno explains as carefully as she can. Neither of the devils want to say something which will upset the creature before them. Yuuto knows to leave most of the diplomacy to Akeno in this case, and silently adopts a guard position slightly ahead of the girl.

The dragon looks far less dangerous now. The armor plates the girl wore upon arrival are nowhere to be seen, and neither is any hint of her invisible weapon. The elegant blue and white dress the woman wears can be seen in full now, which looks like it came out of a medieval fairy tale. The outfit is pristine, without a single tear or stain to show for the battle its wearer must have waged. Without the armor, the woman's actual size is far more apparent. Yuuto works with Koneko often, though, so he doesn't allow a small stature to fool him.

 _'Is the armor really even gone, or just invisible too?'_ Yuuto wonders. If this dragon has the sword Yuuto suspects she might, then such a feat may be possible. _'A dragon with an affinity for holy swords sounds like the type of monster the Church might try to create.'_

"Is he with her?" The woman follows up on Akeno's answer. There is no need to ask who the woman refers to.

"He is," Akeno admits. "We were sent to speak with you before we brought you to them."

Those green eyes are locked on Akeno's diplomatic, and certainly false, smile. Yuuto tenses his legs for a fast retreat.

"Take me to them now," the stranger orders as she steps forward.

Yuuto braces himself for pain at the woman's approach.

 _'I don't feel anything... yet.'_

"Now, now. Surely you can understand we have some questions first?" Akeno politely responds. Yuuto is glad he isn't in charge of the diplomacy here. This is clearly a woman used to being obeyed, and he is used to following orders.

"I do not know you or your master," the woman answers back. The dragon's voice is firm, but not with harsh intent. "Only once Issei and Asia are within my sight will I answer any questions."

 _'Does she know Hyoudou's name because she came for him specifically, or because the president said it when we left?'_ Yuuto wonders.

"You were told before. This is House Gremory territory, and our master is their heir."

"I am not familiar with the name."

This is a surprise to both of the devils. Yuuto knows dragons have a reputation for being introverted, but to not know one of the most famous of the 72 pillars? The claim seems unlikely.

"We do not wish to insult you," Akeno follows up. The girl is no longer able to maintain a friendly smile and allows a business-like façade to fall over her instead. "But we have no reason to trust you with our master, either. Can't you indulge us just a little?"

"I will not," the woman states with a certainty which makes Yuuto curse her stubbornness. "But I swear upon my honour as a knight: I will bring no harm to your master or her house this day, so long as those under my protection are safe with her."

 _'Honour as a knight?'_

Yuuto can't blame Akeno for her pause after the statement. Both of the devils trust Koneko's nose implicitly, and neither of them have heard of a dragon like this before. The notion is bewildering. No, Yuuto doesn't blame Akeno... but he can't wait on her anymore either.

The boy's patience has run out.

Yuuto steps forward. Akeno audibly shifts behind the boy, but doesn't speak up. Perhaps the girl trusts her fellow servant to have an idea for this stalemate. Yuuto wishes he did, but all he really has is a desperate need to know. If this person has a powerful holy sword hidden on them then a devil should be able to tell just by its scathing presence alone. Yuuto closes the distance between himself and the dragon slowly but steadily, braced for the searing pain to come at any moment.

Yuuto stops just in front of the shorter blonde, who looks up at him defiantly.

There is no pain.

It isn't until Yuuto feels the muscles in his face relax when he realizes how hard his frown had been until now. The girl before Yuuto seems to relax minutely as well after his change in expression.

 _'Have I been glaring at her this whole time?'_ the boy thinks, surprised by how unaware he's been of his own actions. With Akeno behind Yuuto, she wouldn't have even known. _'Is that why she's being so defiant?'_

"Will you accept my word?" the girl asks. The tone is slightly less confrontational than before, but still spoken in a way which implies acceptance is the only correct answer.

Yuuto's change in expression must have been taken by the girl as a positive sign. The boy himself, once he reflects on how the object of his hatred isn't actually here, is surprised by the extent of his own unconscious reaction. There really is only one way for him to make up for this now.

"Shall we, Akeno-senpai?" Yuuto turns halfway around and asks with his usual princely expression back on his face. "If we can't trust a knight's honour, what can we trust?"

Akeno doesn't look entirely pleased to have the negotiations hijacked by her own partner this way, but also seems to decide the dragon isn't going to become any more cooperative than this and nods. The blonde girl looks appreciative of Yuuto's words, though, and she grants him a small nod of respect. The gesture is lost on the man, who is too wrapped up in his own thoughts to truly notice.

 _'I'm sorry, President,'_ Yuuto thinks as the two begin to lead their charge to Kuoh Academy.

The supposedly-loyal servant has witnessed his own weakness, and he doesn't like what he's learned about himself.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **That's chapter three.**

 **As my profile states, a change in living situations caused me to lose the writing time I expected to have when I started posting on this site. This chapter was written in pieces whenever I found spare time over the last few months. I have a new writing schedule I'm trying out now, which allowed me to properly finish this, so I hope to return to more regular updates on all my stories soon. Here's hoping for the best on that front.**

 **Readers will probably notice by now that the setting of this story won't be 100% canon-compliant. I'm used to seeing all kinds of variations on the DxD universe's setup and rules in fanfiction so I naturally starting making up my own, like the details in this chapter about angel wings.**

 **I guess it means this story takes place in one of the many multiversal versions of the Fate and DxD settings where my made-up details about both of them just happen to be true. Blame the Kaleidoscope.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Captain Bell**


	4. A Meeting of Kings

**Author's Notes**

 **Hello, this is Captain Bell.**

 **After many reviews focusing on the idea Artoria and Issei might share a romance in this story, I decided update the first chapter and the summary to clarify the topic. I assure you all the reason I didn't highlight the two as a romantic pair in the summary wasn't so I could spring a surprise couple on readers later, which was apparently a common fear.**

 **Writing these chapters doesn't take too long for me now, actually, it's the editing process afterwards I get stuck in. It probably doesn't help that I keep going back over the previous chapters and fixing problems I find (In all my stories) as I figure out what my bad habits are. Hopefully I've been practicing long enough now to leave those alone going forward and focus on one chapter at a time. It should speed things up.**

 **Fun fact: The Red Dragon's Saber has a TV Tropes page now. My gratitude goes out to the contributors, it was an amazing surprise to see people thought these few chapters were worth the time.**

 **My thanks to this chapter's Beta Readers:** **ekaterina016 and Andivia**

 **Let us begin.**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: A Meeting of Kings**

* * *

"That's everything I know."

Asia accepts the sweet tea offered by Koneko with a quiet thank-you. The Italian can't quite look the white-haired devil in the eye at the moment, though. The raw emotions Asia relived when she shared the tale of her excommunication cast a sour veil over the former nun's mood. Even so, the girl's emotions are too much of a roller coaster right now for any one feeling to take total hold of her.

In the span of only two days Asia made her very first real friend, then lost the patron of her entire support and protection system for the second time in her life because of him. Oh, and the girl's first and only friend in the world is one of the sworn enemies of _both_ her previous patrons.

It's a bit much to take in all at once.

"I still can't believe they'd abandon you like that!" Issei curses next to Asia on the couch they share. The blonde can't help but smile at the way her brown-haired friend grits his teeth and clenches his fists in his lap. The boy doesn't hide his emotions away from others at all, unlike the people Asia has lived and worked with most of her life. The various spikes of Issei's wild hair swing to and fro as he shakes his head, and Asia can't help but think the motion adds a cute touch to the boy's serious expression. "So what if you healed a devil? Isn't it normal to help someone in trouble when they're right in front of you!?"

Asia's old teachers at the Church certainly wouldn't have expected to hear such a thing from the mouth of a devil.

"The Church's healing magic comes from a holy source," Rias explains to Issei. The amazingly beautiful redhead draws Asia's attention away from the boy momentarily. The high-class devil holds Asia's fate in her hands now, and the blonde hides her assessment of the older teenager behind a drink of her tea.

The dimly-lit room the devils led the nun to is spacious, but sparsely decorated. Koneko takes a seat across from Asia and Issei, then sips her own tea. Rias is seated on top of a desk next to and between the two couches. Only the various lit candles around the room allow Asia, who doesn't have night vision, to see those around her.

"If Asia's power can heal not only humans and angels, but also devils as well, then it must not come from the God of the Bible," Rias states. "That's no doubt what they decided."

Rias's deduction is correct, Asia recalls. When the blonde used her Sacred Gear to heal the sick, the Church's wounded exorcists, or even angels in critical condition who needed a boost to their natural healing power, she was praised as the Holy Maiden by the organization. Once Asia's Twilight Healing proved it could restore devils as well, though, it didn't matter how much good will she had built up. As someone with a unique power, the Holy Maiden was always held separate from others, even when she was being praised.

How quickly the praise turned into scorn.

"But when Yuu... when Raynare killed me, she said it was God who- Ow!," Issei begins to argue, before a headache punishes him for his careless words.

"A devil can't say any name of the God of the Bible without being hurt," Rias explains to the bewildered boy. "Use the same title I do if you need to speak of him."

Asia bites her lip, sad to see such a good person punished by her beloved lord just as she was. Still, Issei powers through. It is as if the boy is convinced he can change the minds of those who cast his friend out in the past by winning an argument here and now.

"Well, she said it was... 'his' fault I had a Sacred Gear! Doesn't the Church have to know where they come from too?!"

Rias nods, but her neutral expression doesn't crack.

"It's about politics," the devil explains. "The Church decided this was the best way to preserve their own stability."

"Well they're wrong!" the boy yells. "And selfish! Asia didn't deserve any of it!"

"I agree."

The three younger teens all give pause at the redhead's matter-of-fact statement.

"It seems like a shortsighted response, probably fueled by the high emotions involved in the Church when it comes to anything concerning devils, and a perceived need to act quickly," Rias explains, then turns a sympathetic blue gaze toward Asia directly. "I am sorry you had to go through that."

Asia can't help but almost cry. The fallen angels and excommunicated exorcists who offered to take the girl in and protect her never offered such kind words. Asia bows her head over her cup of hot tea and sniffs back her emotional response.

Someone to understand and empathize... it's more than Asia ever imagined she could have outside of God himself.

"Thank you."

"So, we can deduce Raynare's group recruited Asia so Grigori can make use of her Sacred Gear," Rias continues, probably after she senses Asia needs a moment to gather herself. The redhead seems both perceptive enough and kind enough to do so. "If it can heal angels and devils alike it can certainly heal other beings as well."

Asia is sure Twilight Healing would work on anyone of any species. The power has always felt indiscriminate.

"Grigori is the fallen angels' governing body. They have lost Heaven's blessing, so their ability to self-heal is limited," Rias adds for Issei's benefit, who nods along to the new information. "Given they often recruit humans and hybrids with Sacred Gears, having someone capable of healing any of their members without restriction is probably a big deal for them."

"Actually, Raynare never said anything about Grigori," Asia interrupts. The former nun also assumed she was being recruited by the larger organization at first. Asia now realizes, though, she never met anyone besides Raynare's team. "She just said I would be helping _her_ , to pay her back for her protection."

Rias considers this for a moment.

"This may be good news. If Raynare's group is acting on its own then they might not have official Grigori sanction. If so, we can eliminate them without fear," the redhead explains. Asia sneaks a glance at Issei and notices the boy tense up a little at the off-hand remark about killing the fallen angels. Rias herself just lets out a breath and shakes her head at the news. "I'll hear from the Underworld about it soon enough. Unfortunately, this doesn't shed any light on why our other intruder showed up."

"Please don't call her an intruder, President," Issei says meekly as he takes his seat again. "She's not an intruder. She saved my life from that psycho priest."

"Only because she stopped us from leaving with you in the first place," Rias repeats her old argument. "But I am glad we could take Asia with us in the end. A rogue faction of Grigori can't be allowed to abduct a power like hers under false pretenses."

Even though Rias phrases her concern in political terms, none of the teens present miss how she looks away when she speaks. Issei turns to offer the blonde in question a hopeful smile, and Asia herself can't help but smile back. A warm feeling suffuses the girl's being, one that seems to finally offer some stability back to the chaos of her emotional state.

It feels good. Issei makes Asia feel at peace.

Out of the corner of her eye, Asia notices Koneko's nose twitch. The albino puts her teacup down on its saucer on the table between the two couches, then stands up.

"They're coming. With her," the first-year student states, and Asia watches Rias narrow her eyes in response to Koneko's words.

"So, they've decided it is safe to bring her back."

Even Asia, who just met Rias, can't help but notice a slight nervous edge to her otherwise noble bearing. Asia herself isn't afraid of dragons, at least in general. In fact, the girl always thought they were quite impressive creatures based on the stories. The ex-nun has heard of how dangerous and unpredictable dragons can be, though, so she understands the devil's caution. Still, the blonde can't help but think of how happy the mysterious woman looked when she saved Issei from Freed. No one has ever looked at Asia that way before, and she can't imagine the expression on the face of an enemy.

Issei makes Asia feel at peace, but the knight in shining armor makes Asia feel safe.

"Um, I also think she's someone you can trust," Asia says as diplomatically as she can.

"Yeah, please don't scare her away, President!" Issei agrees enthusiastically. "I need to thank her!"

If Rias finds any amusement in her servant's certainty that she can scare dragons away, the devil doesn't show it. Rias just takes to her feet and crosses her arms.

"Either way, we'll soon find out."

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

"We are meeting at a school?" Artoria questions. The former king's two escorts lead her to a large area with many elegant buildings. Despite the signage identifying the area as Kuoh Academy, it looks nothing like Homurahara Academy in Fuyuki City. This place is far more spacious and ornate than Shirou's school.

 _'They are dressed as students, but Shirou and Rin never tried to use their school as a base of operations.'_

At least Artoria doesn't have to worry about standing out. The knight's foreign blue dress is an uncommon sight in modern Japan, even with the armor plates dispelled. Fortunately, the town's streets have been quite empty the entire trip, and the school grounds appear deserted as well.

"Our peerage uses the academy's occult research club as the cover for our activities in the human world," the girl with the ponytail tied up in an orange ribbon explains. "Our master is the president of the club, and I serve as its vice-president. She prefers we address her by that title."

 _'Peerage?'_ Artoria notes. _'These youths are all nobility?'_

"Our building is secure," the blond boy adds, probably because he misinterprets the look of contemplation on Artoria's face. "Issei and Asia will be safe."

Artoria knows the two teenagers with her are not human because of the sixth sense granted to her in this new body. The knight's indirect summoner is also one of these unidentified creatures, she recalls, though Asia is not.

 _'Surely they are not Dead Apostles?'_ the former king wonders. The highest class of the vampires back in Artoria's world might be the type to hide in plain sight at a school, as long as they were turned at a young enough age to pass as teenagers. Such creatures would also certainly consider themselves noble.

In the past, Artoria cheated the Fuyuki Holy Grail War ritual when she entered as a living Servant. Even now, the former King Arthur retains all of the knowledge of the contemporary world the Grail bestowed to its summoned participants. In addition to her continued grasp of Japanese and most other modern languages, Artoria can also use the granted knowledge to judge the time period she has been brought to is roughly equivalent to the one she fought in before, give or take a few decades. The Grail's information on the most common practices in contemporary magecraft, combined with Merlin's extensive tutelage on the subject in her youth, make Artoria one of the most well-versed non-magus in the various fields of thaumaturgy back in her home reality.

Unfortunately, the girl's strong base of experience offers no answer to her in this situation. Whatever the state of magic is in this realm, it allows humanoids less powerful than Servants to call themselves fallen angels. The true nature of Artoria's new 'Master' and his colleagues could easily be beyond normal expectations.

 _'I had best prepare myself,'_ the girl resolves. _'It would be problematic to appear confused.'_

Artoria may no longer be a monarch, her title forfeited at the end of her mortal life, but the ways of kingship are still ingrained within her. King Arthur will attempt to maintain her poise and image of control.

The brunette leads Artoria into one of the older buildings on the grounds. The walls are covered in growths of ivy, and its style is older than the knight's implanted knowledge judges the rest of the structures here to be. The blond opens the door for both of the girls, then follows in behind so the knight is both led and followed at the same time.

Artoria doesn't comment on the formation, nor the poor visibility in the dark corridors the group walks through. The knight is focused solely on the familiar presence of those inside, including the boy who led her to this world.

"We've returned with our guest, Miss President," the lead woman announces.

"Thank you, Akeno," speaks the refined voice of the tall redhead.

"You're here!" a male voice shouts, nearly interrupting the first. Artoria is internally relieved to see the brown-haired boy who she summoned herself to and the blonde girl she came to protect are both well.

Artoria pauses long enough to assess her new surroundings. The large room is decorated by lit candles and sparse artwork. All the large windows of this second-floor room have had their curtains drawn shut to limit visibility, and near one of them a small table with a chess set left mid-game stands.

The woman who led the knight here moves to stand next to the red-haired one who is in charge of the group. The two are certainly an impressive sight side-by-side. Artoria notices even the other female Servants of her last Holy Grail War could not boast such developed figures as these two teenagers.

Both of the tall women stand in front of a large wooden desk near a table flanked by couches, one of which bears the small white-haired girl who identified the former king's dragon heritage. The albino's casual position doesn't fool Artoria's instincts; the smaller girl's body is tense, hazel eyes fixed on the knight. The boy and girl Artoria came here for were probably seated on the couch opposite of the younger-looking one, but both are on their feet by the time she enters the room and are already rushing toward her, huge smiles on their faces.

Artoria allows a satisfied crinkle to mark her lips as well.

"Ah, let's not crowd our guest, shall we?" the blond man behind Artoria suggests politely. The boy steps forward to stand halfway between the knight and the other two, a single hand raised to pause the approach. "We don't want to upset or overwhelm her."

This one has been acting strange. The young man's aesthetic appeal is apparent, from his fair locks to his practiced smile to the beauty mark on his face; when he and the other girl returned to meet Artoria, though, all of those good looks were lost to an intensity fueled by a deep anger. The knight isn't sure what caused the boy to lose the antagonistic expression and become cordial, but she has been on guard of him ever since. Even now the boy's excuses fall flat before his obvious true intention: to keep the pair away from an entity he doesn't fully trust yet.

But that is a matter for another time.

"Before anything else, I must know what happened after we left," the redhead in the back says with authority. The girl's arms are crossed and her blue eyes are hard. "If there is a risk of hostilities between our factions being restarted then I must work to prevent it as soon as possible."

Artoria appreciates the desire to prevent war, so she acquiesces to the other girl's demand without comment.

"The fallen angels all left alive, with their human ally."

"I'm surprised," the violet-eyed girl who walked Artoria here says after a moment. The calm words match the expressions on most of those present. "Fallen angels can't heal themselves, but they never grow tired. How did you convince them to leave?"

"I severed their wings and demanded their retreat."

Among the shocked looks in the room, Artoria detects a flinch from her blond escort. The boy's reaction causes his polite face to waver a moment before he sets it back in place.

 _'Curious,'_ Artoria thinks. The girl can only assume the boy's response has something to do with how the fallen angels were certain she wouldn't be able to cut their wings. A weapon on par with Excalibur must still be rare in this world, regardless of magic's prevalence.

"Well," the redhead responds. "I am pleased to hear the situation shouldn't be too politically volatile, at least."

"And I am pleased to see you are both well," Artoria speaks with honesty toward the two who tried to rush up to her when she entered. The girl relaxes her expression a little to match her words.

Issei and Asia both stopped their approach at the other boy's suggestion, but now their attention is drawn fully back to the knight.

"Of course we are, but what about you?" Issei asks with naked concern. The boy brushes past his fellow to come within arm's reach of Artoria and then uses his superior height to look down over the girl and inspect her for signs of injury. "Were you hurt holding them off? Asia can heal you if you were. She's amazing!"

 _'It seems I have another Master who can't focus on his own health first,'_ Artoria thinks with a fond sense of déjà vu.

The blonde next to Issei blushes slightly at his praise and looks away, but her green eyes still dart back to Artoria repeatedly as she presses her hands together in front of her.

"Ah, thank you for saving me," Asia says meekly. "My name is Asia Argento. It's a pleasure to meet you properly."

Artoria is not unfamiliar with the slight hero worship emanating from her fellow blonde. King Arthur was often the subject of much more intense admiration, and equally intense fear. Asia's total lack of obvious mistrust is pleasant, especially compared to everyone else in the room but the boy next to her.

"Oh right, and I'm Issei Hyoudou," the one in question states with a thumb pointed at his chest. "I don't know why you came, but I owe-"

"Yes," the redhead cuts Issei off. "Proper introductions are in order."

The leader waves the blond boy in and he moves to stand by the now risen white-haired girl in front of one of the couches. As a fellow leader, Artoria can't help but appreciate the redhead's ability to cut off a subordinate before he declares a debt to a stranger.

"As I told you before, Kuoh Town is the recognized territory of House Gremory. I am the heir to the house, Rias Gremory, and this is my peerage."

The woman's right hand moves to indicate each of the others as she names them.

"This is Akeno Himejima."

"A pleasure," the Japanese beauty says. To Artoria's eyes, the girl's perfect presentation seems like the type of false persona one wears to hide the truth. Akeno may be someone to watch out for.

"Koneko Toujou."

The unusually-colored girl just continues to watch Artoria dutifully. Koneko's stoicism is easily a match for the knight's own. To Artoria, this indicates either powerful self-control or a deep repression of her emotions. Either explanation could be dangerous.

"And Yuuto Kiba."

The European-looking blond inclines his head in a slight nod. Artoria is not taken in by his charm, not after the hate he looked at her with before.

"My servants believe you to be trustworthy enough to bring here," Rias continues. Here in this setting, the redhead's natural charisma and ease of speech further cement Artoria's impression of her as a young noble of some kind.

"She gave her word," Yuuto confirms, then turns toward his superior. "On her honor as a knight."

Confusion runs across the faces of those who were not present at the house.

"A dragon knight?" Asia asks. The girl's eyes quickly fill with awe. Asia looks as if she has witnessed a fairy tale come to life.

"While I have inherited the blood of a dragon, I assure you I am human," Artoria clarifies.

"A hybrid?" Rias questions out loud, then turns a curious gaze to Koneko.

The white-haired girl frowns slightly, sniffs the air, then shakes her head.

"Dragon's scent is too strong," she says with conviction.

Artoria finds this claim a little surprising, but she quickly suspects it may have to do with her body being a new creation of this world's Holy Grail.

"My heritage is unusually potent," Artoria argues back with a calm finality. The tone allows no further questions.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Issei declares, completely ignorant of the mood Artoria just set. "You're a dragon-powered lady knight who goes around saving people in trouble?!"

Asia's eyes are practically filled with stars at this point.

"Issei brings up a good point," Rias says, probably just to regain control of the conversation. "You know who we are now. Your own introduction would be appreciated."

Artoria has thought about this ever since she sent the fallen angels away. The events witnessed here are too strange for the knight to believe she is in the same world she came from, but the use of the name Excalibur at the end of her last battle suggests some form of King Arthur's legend may exist here as well. It could be dangerous to claim the names Arthur or Pendragon until more information has been gleaned, and without knowing this world's version of the stories even the name Artoria is too risky to use.

If a Servant asked for Artoria's identity in combat after willingly revealing their own then chivalry would demand she reciprocate in order to keep the fight fair, but this situation is another matter entirely. Just as King Arthur's true name was kept from Shirou to prevent its discovery by other Masters through him, so too should she hide it from this world for now to keep everyone safe.

"My name is irrelevant. Under a contract with Issei Hyoudou, I have come to fulfill the role of Saber. You may address me by this title until the contract is complete."

"Contract?" Rias asks.

"The role of Saber?" Yuuto questions, curiosity in his eyes at the use of English.

"Saber is the Servant of the Sword," Artoria states. The word Servant, also spoken in English, catches the attention of the more perceptive among the group. The total lack of recognition on the teenagers' faces means they have likely never heard the term in this context before. "I will protect and serve my Master, Issei Hyoudou, until the terms of our contract are complete."

Silence. Artoria takes the complete lack of sound in the room as indicative of how completely unprepared the gathered youths were for this explanation of her presence. Artoria doesn't waver under the fresh scrutiny of Rias and her fellows, though. The knight stands proudly, just as a Saber should.

"M-m-m..."

A soft mumble amid the quiet draws all attention toward Issei, whose eyes are glazed over in some vivid daydream.

"... m-m-master...?"

 _'Is he... drooling?'_ Artoria wonders. The girl blinks her eyes in an attempt to dismiss the image as an illusion. _'How unsightly.'_

"You've come here to serve Issei?" Rias asks as she ignores the boy's display. The incredulous look on the redhead's face makes it clear how hard it is for her to believe the claim. "When did he agree to this contract? And for what payment?!"

 _'She is looking for holes in our arrangement,'_ Artoria realizes. These creatures may not be magi, but they clearly understand the importance of magical contracts.

"It is a contract I have taken on willingly," Artoria explains. "Issei asked for someone to save Asia, and that is the service I offer. For as long as I remain here, I will protect Asia with my life."

The knight offers the girl in question a nod of acknowledgement. Asia covers a gasp from her mouth with her hands, apparently taken aback by the sudden oath.

"And how long will that be?" Rias questions with no trust in her eyes.

A good question. Since the King of Knights has been fully incarnated as a living person again, she supposes she could remain here for the remainder of her natural human life or until she dies of unnatural causes. Truthfully, Artoria doesn't know if the body she has been granted will live as long as a normal human. The homunculi created by the Einzbern family of magi back in the girl's home reality had short lifespans, and this Grail-created form may have similar limits.

Of course, even if this world's Holy Grail went overboard in the opposite direction and granted Artoria an ageless, immortal body, she could almost certainty still find a way to be killed in order to go back to where she came. No matter where in the multiverse King Arthur's soul may be, Avalon will always be its destined resting place. Artoria has no fear of being unable to return to where Shirou will find her.

Still, the question does remain: how long will Artoria choose to live in this world?

"Until my Master and I are satisfied with Asia's safety," Artoria answers.

"Seriously!?" Issei asks, overjoyed. "If that's true I'll definitely pay you back however you-"

"Issei!" Rias scolds. Artoria's new Master wilts under the stern gaze of his superior. "You are new to magical contracts, but you should know it is not safe to make such open promises to unknown beings!"

"But President..."

Issei seems ready to argue back, but Artoria has no need for her Master to defend her claims.

"Lady Gremory's caution is quite correct," the knight speaks. Artoria's words garner more surprise, no doubt at the fact she would agree with her detractor. "In this case, however, you have signed no agreement. I was in a place I could not leave without a contract and a magic circle to summon me into the outside world. Your request for aid facilitated both of those requirements."

"And just where do you come from that you possess the power to take control of our magic circle?" Akeno asks, the seriousness of her question veiled in a polite tone and body language. The preciseness of the girl's formality reveals a history in high society.

"I shall not speak of it," is the succinct reply. Artoria earns more frowns from her Master's fellows at the declaration.

"So you have no name and no origin," Rias sums up. "Just how am I supposed to trust you with my people, Saber?"

"I do not require your trust to fulfill my duty."

The answer bristles several feathers.

"Issei is my servant and he will not be doing anything to pay for your services without my approval," Rias counters with a hard stance. The redhead's natural nobility rises to the surface to challenge Artoria's own.

"Then I will not ask anything in return."

Easy enough, since Artoria has no real interest in the contract with the World anymore. The problem will be for the knight to convince these people her words are true. Trying to help others at no benefit to yourself is the sort of abnormal behavior Shirou was always causing himself problems with. Given Artoria came here to honor her lover, it's no surprise to find herself faced with the same doubts.

"You'll allow the contract to be voided so easily?" Rias asks in disbelief.

"No. I offered my service and I am duty-bound to fulfill this oath," Artoria clarifies. "Taking a contract on without a guarantee of payment from the other side was my decision, and I will accept the consequences of my action without complaint. My honor demands it."

Secretly, Artoria had been hoping for such an outcome. Actually hunting for the Holy Grail of this world would be problematic at best, and ruinous at worst.

"Wait," Issei interrupts while he rubs the back of his head. "I'm not sure I followed all of that, but... you mean you're just going to stay here and be my servant now? For free?"

"No. I am your _Servant_. And you are my _Master_ ," Artoria explains. Unlike Issei, the knight speaks the two titles in their proper English form instead of Japanese, just as she had before. "They are ceremonial titles for those who are bound together by this contract."

The others present seem to grasp Artoria's brief explanation fairly quickly, even though the terms are new to them.

"Er... huh?"

Artoria is pretty sure her new Master isn't the sharpest sword in the armory.

"Do not confuse me as being subordinate to you," the blonde elaborates. "I will serve you and fulfill your request to protect Asia as my duty demands, but you have no means of enforcing your will upon me. I will not accept any insult to my pride."

On top of not actually being a true Servant in the first place, despite claiming the title, without the Fuyuki Grail's Command Spell system in place there is no way for Artoria's newest Master to control her if he turns out to be unworthy. The resurrected woman feels she is in full control of her situation, despite a lack of information to work with.

"Well, servant or Servant or whatever, either way I won't accept you being let down!" the boy declares before he turns to Rias. "Come on, President! You just taught me how contracts are super important to us devils, right?! We can't let Saber down like this!"

 _'... what?'_

"Yes, Issei," Rias answers. "But you can't confuse our contracts with what has happened here. People who summon devils have already agreed to the cost of-"

Artoria has her left arm around Asia's waist before the other girl even realizes she has moved. In the blink of an eye armor plates reform around Artoria's dress and her invisible blade is grasped in a reverse grip in her right hand.

 _'I will protect Asia...'_

Invisible Air stabs the floor just as Issei, who is next to the two blondes, turns his head to see what's happened. Yuuto also begins to dash across the room toward the pair at superhuman speed while the other girls present start to react.

All of the movements of the others are made moot when Artoria releases a fraction of the Sheath of the Wind King which hides Excalibur. Invisible Air remains intact, but the club room turns into the site of a miniature hurricane. A roar of wind deafens those around the knight and her charge, furniture and decorations are torn away, candles are blown out and scattered, and everyone but Artoria and Asia are tossed bodily aside by the powerful winds.

 _'... even from my Master.'_

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

Raynare hisses a curse upon all of Freed's nonexistent descendants when she hits the floor. Being dumped like a sack of garbage is not acceptable treatment for the leader of this important operation! Kalawarner, sure, but not Raynare. Not the fallen angel's wings either, which are just as precious.

"Lady Raynare! What happened to you and the others?!" another man in dark clerical robes asks. Clearly this is one of the more respectful excommunicated exorcists the brunette has claimed for herself. His face will be remembered... for a little while at least.

"She and the rest got-"

"Shut your mouth, Freed," Raynare growls before the albino can go off on a profanity-laden metaphor involving sex and violence to explain the situation, no doubt as vaguely as possible. "Go find someone to kill if you can't do anything helpful."

"I know just the lucky lady," the psychopath replies with a lick of his lips. Freed pays no more mind to his superior, the madman simply strolls right back out the door of the abandoned church, their current base of operations, while he mutters about blondes who hog all the fun for themselves.

 _'I almost hope he does find her, and that she finishes him off,'_ Raynare can't help but think. Freed may be the most skilled of the humans manipulated into doing the fallen angel's will, but he is also the most annoying by far.

"You! Help me up!" Raynare demands through gritted teeth, the raw pain in her back still as intense as the moment her wings were sheared off. The exorcist whose face she hasn't quite forgotten yet complies, even as others rush into the main room from the back in order to assist their other three maimed superiors.

A quick glance confirms what Raynare already knows. Kalawarner, Mittelt, and Dohnaseek are all out cold, each one succumbing to unconsciousness once back in what they consider safe territory. Raynare scoffs at her subordinates' weak wills. The collection of broken and defaced religious iconography decorating the inside of this church is not a sign of safe haven, it is simply an insult to their spurned Father. Raynare knows she isn't ever safe, and refuses to allow the darkness to claim her mind.

If the others are too weak to do as much, then all the better for their leader to prove her superiority.

"Take those three to their rooms and strap them down," Raynare instructs her minions. "They're weak and shouldn't move on their own."

A couple of the stray exorcists hesitate at what they take as an unusual display of concern for another's health from their boss, but a harsh violet glare gets them moving.

"Shall I take you to your room as well?" the one who supports Raynare asks.

"No," is the curt reply. "Has the device been set up?"

"Y-yes," the man responds after a moment's hesitation. The abrupt change in topic has obviously left the lesser human's mind confused. "The ritual of transference should be ready to go within one day's time."

 _'Perfect.'_

"Summon the rest from below. Tell them to gather the wings and have Yelena prepare to operate immediately."

"Shouldn't you recover your strength first?" the man asks, which proves two things to Raynare: one, he is smart enough to know how dangerous it can be to reattach an angel's wings immediately after they are separated; two, he is stupid enough to question her.

The violet glare does the trick once more.

 _'I'll survive,'_ Raynare vows. A mass of stray exorcists emerges from the secret basement of the hideout to follow the fallen angel's commands. _'I'll take Asia back.'_

The small horde of men and women present were all easy to sway toward Raynare's purposes with a few simple promises. Each one is a former soldier of the Church who was deemed either too violent or too unconcerned with human life to continue to be a part of its holy mission to destroy evil. All any of these souls really want is to continue killing devils and other supernatural monsters, because it's all any of them know. Such lost sheep are easy prey for a fallen angel with as much vision and charisma as Raynare, but their naivety makes them no less useful. There are enough highly-skilled users of the Church's limited magical arts among the group to do what their new master needs of them now.

 _'And once I'm done, nothing will ever be able to kill me. Not even you, dragon.'_

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

"Let us put this misunderstanding behind us," Saber declares.

It goes against every lesson on noble bearing and self-control Rias has been taught ever since she was old enough to learn, but the heiress of the Gremory clan of the 72 pillars of the Underworld cannot help it: her brow twitches in irritation.

 _'This woman...'_ the redhead grouses internally. _'She's not even going to pretend to be sorry.'_

A single sweep of the devil's blue eyes around the school grounds shows the aftermath of their 'misunderstanding.' There is a hole blasted out from the second floor of the old school building, several of Akeno's small imp-like familiars are running around trying to salvage what furniture and decorations might be magically repaired, more than one impressively-sized gouge has been torn into the grassy lawn they all currently stand on, and two of Rias's servants are being treated by Asia for minor bruising.

The beautiful, and demonstrably powerful, blonde stranger holds herself with perfect poise and a straight face even after her nearly disastrous blunder. The display is enough to convince Rias that, whatever unspeakable place this dragon-human hybrid hails from, she must hold some level of nobility there. The natural authority the self-proclaimed knight exudes with every breath is proof enough of her importance and upbringing. The problem facing Rias now is how to handle what is essentially a foreign diplomat who refuses to name who or what they represent.

Saber is not even **just** an important representative of an outside power, though. No...

"I apologize, Miss President," Akeno speaks from beside her master. "I should have mentioned Saber claimed ignorance of the Gremory name. The idea was so unexpected, I failed realize she may not know which faction she was speaking with."

... she's an ignorant one too.

Apparently, until a few minutes ago, Saber had never heard of the Devil Civil War which saw the rise of the New Devil Faction and their far more pragmatic methods of doing business for wealth instead of souls. The knight had been under the impression the 'evil for evil's sake' mentality of the original Four Great Satans was still the standard for all devils. At this point, Rias wouldn't be surprised if Saber claimed not to have heard of the Great War either, never mind that most of the supernatural world had been forced to pick a side in the three-way conflict between God, the original Four Great Satans, and Grigori. Dragons had largely stayed out of the war anyway, with few exceptions.

"Well, we can thank Yuuto for figuring out what the problem was," Rias states with a nod toward the freshly-healed blond. The swordsman and Koneko had been the ones to attempt to stop the woman from escaping, but both devils were batted away with relative ease. Thankfully, Issei's pleas for Saber to stop and the girl's answers to him offered enough clues for Yuuto to understand the problem. Things came to a stop before Rias or Akeno needed to step in and end the conflict in a more permanent fashion.

 _'If Akeno even could have,'_ Rias thinks with uncomfortable uncertainty. As a high-class devil, Rias has never felt lacking in power or ability, not even when she was a child. The raw magical force Saber had been expending for those brief seconds of combat, though, had been far more intense than the heiress is used to from her high-class peers among the young devils. Rias doesn't doubt she could end the threat Saber presents by herself, but her political mind has to acknowledge the possible consequences of killing a foreign noble out of anything less than self-defense.

Whatever Saber's true situation is, Rias is certain of at least one thing: power and ignorance are a dangerous combination.

"You really thought I was pure evil?" Issei asks his new Servant, coming up on Rias's other side now with Asia in tow. The brunet rubs his hair nervously. "I'm used to being called a pervert, but that's a new low for me."

"Indeed, Master. I was never taught devils to be capable of anything less," Saber answers, her blunt honesty making Issei wince. "Had Asia not vouched for the truth of your comrade's words, I would have disregarded them as a transparent lie."

"Ah, th-thank-you for believing me, Sir Saber," Asia says with timidity in her voice. Rias can't help but notice the higher level of hesitation and deference used than when the Sister spoke with her. Not that Rias is jealous.

Not at all.

Besides, it's obviously not fear or even respect which makes the blonde human hesitate. No, the look in the girl's green eyes is pure hero worship. Saber's completely unnecessary attempt to rescue the young maiden from the 'evil devils' must have escalated Asia's impression of Saber as a storybook fantasy come to life.

"Please, just Saber is the correct form of address in this case," the knight responds with the smallest of possible smiles. The happy crinkle of Saber's lips is gone once her stern eyes move to meet Rias's own once again.

The two noble women engage in a silent match of authority once more. Rias knows she needs to make a decision here and now about how to handle this situation, and Saber is adamant to see her contract to protect Asia through.

"Well, now that the air has been cleared, I can say there is a simple solution to our current problem," Rias begins to explain, though she doubts her forthcoming suggestion will be well-received. "Saber wishes to protect Asia, who only had to stay with the fallen angels because she had no other protection. If we simply allow the two to leave together, then all parties should be satisfied."

"Wait, what do you mean 'let them leave?'" Issei asks with panic on his face. Next to the boy, Asia also looks shocked.

"Asia is a human, Issei, and a former member of the Church," Rias calmly points out once more. "Allying herself with devils would paint a large target on her back."

"Well, that's what me and Saber are here for! To keep her safe!" the boy claims with not a single shred of doubt despite how he was nearly killed less than an hour ago. Rias can't help but admire the boy's tenacity, even if he lacks common sense. "Besides, didn't we just have a fight because we didn't want her to take Asia away!?"

"That was because Asia herself didn't want to be taken. Saber was essentially kidnapping her," Rias explains as she turns a small smirk the knight's way. "Even if she thought it was in Asia's best interests."

Saber shows no reaction on her face, but Rias recognizes it as a noble mask to hide the embarrassment underneath. Rias holds the knight's gaze just long enough to make sure Saber knows she knows, then turns back to her servant.

"With the protection of someone as strong as Saber, especially one who is unaffiliated with the Three Factions, Asia should be quite safe to live however she wishes. As long as she doesn't cause trouble on purpose, of course," Rias ends with a slight tease.

"I would never!" Asia confirms, but without any happiness behind the claim. The girl holds her hands together over her chest and looks sadly between Saber and Issei.

 _'Issei managed to make such an impression on Asia that she doesn't want to leave with her new hero?'_ Rias notes, only partially surprised. Issei is a chosen servant of House Gremory, after all.

"I have no objections myself," Saber states and crosses her arms. The woman's armor plates have already vanished once more, and the elegant dress beneath them is another reason Rias pegs the girl as a noble of some kind. "Though I would prefer to protect my Master as well, my primary task is to protect Asia. If that is best done separate from Issei, then I will promise him her safety."

Rias is relieved Saber sees the logic in her words. The stranger has been surprisingly agreeable, especially when one considers her stubbornness to follow through on an unpaid contract is the entire source of the problem here.

Next to Rias, Issei and Asia lock eyes with sorrowful expressions on their faces.

"I mean... I guess... if it keeps her safe..."

"Issei... I..."

"However," Saber interrupts. "That is only if it is Asia's wish."

Rias, Issei and Asia all look to the stranger in surprise. Rias can't help but wonder what motivates Saber to interfere. The two friends were only seconds away from accepting what is the best outcome for all parties!

"I will protect Asia from all harm, no matter where she is. There is no reason for her to go anywhere she doesn't wish to, or leave anyone she wants to stay with."

Rias desperately wants to let go of all pretense at decorum and rests her face in her right hand, which she resists by planting both on her hips. The redhead doesn't even need to look to know what kind of happy faces the pair of friends are making at the knight's irresponsible declaration. Saber's absolute confidence is exhausting to deal with; the heiress can't remember the last time she felt such a loss of control outside the company of her family.

"I want to stay with Issei," Asia speaks up, the firmness of her resolve now back in full force. "If I can."

"Of course you can! The president already said you were too important to let someone steal you away!" Issei answers on her behalf, a habit his master will need to train him out of quickly. "Even if Saber could protect Asia on her own, it'll be even better if we all do it together, right?"

"Well, I must admit," Yuuto speaks up for the first time since the fighting stopped. "After all this, it would feel unsatisfying if the answer was the same as just letting Saber run off with Asia a moment ago."

"Annoying," Koneko confirms. Whether the girl is agitated by how pointless her latest bruises are or by this entire matter altogether is up for debate.

Rias takes a deep breath and smiles to soothe Issei and Asia's nerves.

"Alright, I understand," the redhead accepts. "It would have been the simplest solution, but I expected this reaction. There is still another way, and one I would personally prefer."

"Alright! I knew you wouldn't let Asia down, President!" Issei declares with such absolute faith in Rias she can't help but feel her fondness for the boy swell a little.

"Why don't we discuss the matter inside?" Akeno suggests. By the light in the vice-president's eyes, she has already caught on to Rias's new angle. "We have some calls to make if we want this cleaned up before school starts in the morning."

"Yes. Would you handle those, Akeno?"

"Of course, Miss President," the brunette answers with a bow.

A few minutes later, everyone but Akeno has gathered in a secondary meeting room on the first floor of the old school building. A large conference table takes up the center space, and Rias sits down on the edge of it rather than on any of the chairs available.

Yuuto and Koneko flank their redheaded leader, both on their feet, while Issei and Asia seem to unconsciously take up similar positions next to Saber just inside the entrance. Rias supposes she can understand why Issei would stand with the two blondes since he wants to advocate on their behalf, but he will need to learn his proper place is by his master's side.

The two central figures stare calmly into each other's eyes, both searching for insight into the other's motivations.

"So... what's your idea, President?" Issei asks nervously once he reaches his limit on awkward silence.

"Simply put," the redhead answers with a smile toward the excommunicated nun. "If Asia is going to stay without having a target on her back, then she has to officially join our family."

Rias pulls a thin, silver case from her skirt pocket and places it down on the table next to where she is seated. A gesture opens the magic lock, and Rias flips the lid over to reveal the contents within.

"Game pieces?" Saber asks.

"Allow me to explain for the sake of anyone here who might not know," the heiress says with a sweet smile and coy tilt of her head. Saber narrows her eyes for half a second in response, while Issei chuckles nervously next to the otherwise stoic dragon-blooded woman. There's probably only one person present who 'might not know' what the items are, after all.

Asia doesn't speak, but her eyes are wide as saucers.

"After fighting both the Great War and our own civil war back-to-back, the devil population was significantly diminished. Many of our noble bloodlines were either wiped out, or were part of the losing Old Satan Faction. In addition, our extremely low birth rate compared to humans meant we would be an easy target should one of our enemies regain their fighting strength sooner than us."

Rias picks up a white bishop piece from the set at her side and holds it up between two fingers at the top and bottom.

"One of the new Great Satans invented the evil pieces to solve the population crisis. They are modeled after the human game of chess, and high-class devils are each given a set they can use to designate up to fifteen servants as their personal peerage, with them as its King. The evil pieces grant the chosen servants specific abilities to aid their service to the King, and peerages have become a focal point of Underworld culture ever since."

It feels good for Rias to be the one setting the tone of the conversation again.

"So humans are taken as servants?" Saber asks, no doubt trying to infer how the explanation applies to Asia. "I hope you are not suggesting they are used as breeding stock for their higher birth rates."

Saber says it with a straight face, but almost everyone else reacts overtly. From Issei's choked gasp and Asia's cute yelp, to Yuuto's amused head shake and Koneko's deadpan stare, it is clear no one expected the accusation. Rias just blinks before she puts the hybrid's fear to rest.

"Not at all, Saber. You see, while the evil pieces can be used on fellow devils to grant them power, their true purpose is to transform other species into devils. We increased our numbers by taking in those willing to serve, whether human or otherwise. In exchange, the reincarnated devils gain a high-class devil's protection and the chance to work their way up in the hierarchy. The truly successful can even earn their own peerage in time."

Saber turns toward Asia and sees the girl's nod of confirmation. The woman then turns to her master... no, her Master, and sends him a questioning gaze.

"Yeah, President used those on me to save my life," the boy explains with gratitude in his voice. "I was human before, but after Yuuma... I mean, Raynare, one of those fallen angels back there, killed me, she brought me back to life as a devil."

"They can raise the dead?" Saber asks Rias, genuine curiosity on her face.

"The recently deceased, before the soul moves on," the redhead confirms. "Though Issei was the first I had to do so with."

"I serve as Rias Gremory's Knight," Yuuto speaks up with a small bow.

"Rook," Koneko states flatly.

"Uh... I'm a... Pawn," Issei admits, less than enthusiastically.

"And I am her Queen," Akeno adds from behind Saber as she enters the room.

"Is everything in order?" Rias asks.

"Yes, Miss President," the girl answers as she moves to stand by the wall part-way between the two groups of three. "All repairs should be finished within the hour."

Rias nods at the confirmation, then turns her attention to Asia. The younger girl has been quiet ever since the evil pieces were revealed.

"Asia does have an incredible power to heal anyone of great wounds very quickly. Devil healing magic is slow to work and requires prolonged physical contact, as Issei knows."

Rias smiles at the way her Pawn turns beet red, no doubt because he remembers waking up in bed with her, both nude, after he was injured by Dohnaseek.

"Because of this, I would not object at all to taking Asia on as a member of my peerage," Rias explains. The high-class devil transfers the bishop piece to her left hand and holds it out upright on her palm. "As my Bishop she would have the protection of House Gremory, and her allegiances would no longer be in question by anyone."

Asia doesn't look confused or scared. There is no reason to, for the former Holy Maiden would already know all about the evil pieces, just as any member of the Church would. How Asia does look, though, is uncertain.

"And not just Asia, of course."

Six pairs of eyes turn toward Rias, all of them in question except for one; Saber's green eyes are not surprised at all. The other five all understand once Rias picks up a knight from the set beside her with her free right hand.

"As her protector, Saber will need access to all the places Asia will be able to go as a devil of the Gremory clan. She has already proven herself capable enough to warrant the honor, and I would be happy to take them both in."

"Well, that would be great, right?!" Issei exclaims before either girl can give Rias an answer, his hands clenched in celebration. The boy leans around Saber to look at both his friend and his Servant with glee. "If you join the President then we can all stay together from now on!"

Rias smiles at the way Issei's words will sway Asia, and possibly Saber, toward her.

"Oh, but only if you both don't mind becoming devils, of course."

Rias feels a sudden urge to throw her evil piece at Issei's head. It is a small impulse and easily ignored, but still! This is not how one conducts a negotiation.

"Indeed," Saber says with small smile toward her Master before she turns the same expression Asia's way. "My oath stands no matter what form you choose to take, Asia Argento. Do not let my presence influence this decision."

Saber turns her focus toward Rias, her stern visage back in full force.

"For my own answer, I refuse."

Rias isn't too surprised, but she isn't ready to give up yet. There is more than one way for this to work out in the devil's favor.

"Are you sure, Saber? The Gremory family's transportation circle does not recognize outsiders. Any trips we take by teleportation would leave you unable to follow."

"I will protect Asia to the best of my ability, but I will not stop her from choosing to go where she knows I cannot follow. I will await her return dutifully if I must. Regardless, Issei is the Master I have chosen, and I will not be beholden to another."

Issei blushes again, but Rias simply nods and smiles in a congenial way. Everything is still going the redhead's way.

"Very well, then. Although, now that I think about it," Rias says while she looks up at the ceiling, as if she just had a new thought. The girl places the knight back into its case in an absent-minded way. "You said you would only be bound by your oath until you were satisfied of Asia's continued safety, correct?"

Rias turns back to the long-haired blonde, whose own eyes now spark with realization.

"You don't know, Saber, but House Gremory is one of the few remaining 72 pillars of the Underworld, the most powerful noble families of them all. The current leader of the Four Great Satans comes from our house."

"Whoa! Really?!" Issei asks, more shocked than the one Rias actually spoke to.

"Yes," Akeno confirms with a smile and a nod. "Sirzechs Lucifer is the president's older brother. He's widely recognized as the most powerful devil alive."

Issei and Asia both look suitably impressed, just as Rias's amazing older brother deserves. Saber, as usual, maintains a straight face.

"Surely, with the authority of the Gremory name warding off danger, Saber can be assured of Asia's safety. This way she won't have to stay here fulfilling a contract she won't be paid for, and everyone can be happy."

 _'And we'll no longer have an unpredictable dragon hybrid here doing as she pleases,'_ Rias muses. _'Getting her as my servant would be the best outcome, but I'll happily take this one if it gets rid of the risk.'_

"So, what do you say, Asia?"

"Um... well..."

Asia's eyes drift toward both Rias and Issei before they settle on Saber. The desire to free the knight of her service clearly weighs on the girl.

"I will repeat myself," Saber says with kindness. "My own desires will be fulfilled whether or not my contract with Issei ends today, many years from now, or any time in between. You need not consider my sake in this decision. Rather, I would ask what it is that makes you hesitate to accept?"

"Is it because you worry about it changing you?" Issei asks as he moves over to the girl's side opposite Saber. "I promise, ever since the president brought me back I haven't felt any unnatural urge to do bad stuff or anything like that. Or, well... not... any more than... usual..."

Issei looks off to the side, apparently embarrassed to talk about the subject of his perverted exploits in front of Asia. Rias finds the display somewhat curious, given the boy's reputation for being shameless about his desires. Issei has always been a little devil-like in disposition because of his pride in his perversity.

"No, that's not it," Asia admits. The girl takes a deep breath to steady her nerves before she continues. "It's just that, if I became a devil, I wouldn't be able to... to pray anymore."

"You wouldn't be able to?" Saber asks, unable to understand.

"The God of the Bible hates devils," Akeno answers with a solemn expression. "To say his name or attempt to speak directly to him in prayer causes us great pain. Even reading the Bible is unbearable to us. It is why we only refer to him by title."

"But Asia," Yuuto interrupts, an unexpected level of sympathy in his voice. "Koneko told me on the way inside... you've been excommunicated."

"You were?" Saber asks, apparently familiar with the term.

"For healing an injured devil," Asia answers with a nod. "It's why I have nowhere to go."

"It might not hurt them, but the God of the Bible doesn't listen to the prayers of the excommunicated," Yuuto states softly. "And your soul can't enter Heaven after death anymore either. I am sorry, but even if you want to pray, there's no point anymore."

Rias silently thanks Yuuto. The truth may be harsh, but it's something Asia needs to accept. Even if the girl wasn't offered peerage, she would only hurt herself if she holds on to empty rituals.

"I know," Asia responds after a silent moment, her eyes watery but a smile on her face. "I know it's silly of me to feel this way."

Asia wipes her unshod tears with her sleeve and then turns a bright smile toward Issei and Saber before she faces Rias again.

"That's why... I want to acce-"

"It is not pointless," Saber interrupts. Rias's triumphant smile turns into a concerned frown. The knight looks intensely at Asia, who is captured with confusion by the woman's gaze. "If prayer is more important to you than the protection of a devil clan then you should not accept."

"Saber, with all due respect, you were obviously not taught about the other supernatural factions," Akeno tries to step in diplomatically. "Yuuto is quite correct. Asia's prayers won't be heard anymore."

"It isn't healthy for her to hold on to false hope," Rias adds, a genuinely concerned look on her face.

Saber steps forward, between Asia and Rias, to halfway shield the former nun with her own body. Even though no armor appears on the blonde hybrid, Rias still feels as if she is looking once more at the warrior side of the woman.

"The act of worship is not about the one being praised," Saber states with all the certainty of a Biblical prophet. "When a human recognizes something as fundamentally worthwhile and genuinely admirable, whether it is in a religion, a philosophy, or even another person, it is natural and healthy to express that admiration."

Well, Rias didn't expect this from an ignorant dragon hybrid from who-knows-where.

Saber turns around to face Asia directly, then gently places both hands on the slightly taller girl's shoulders. Rias, and probably Asia herself based on the blonde's open mouth, recognize this is the first physical contact Saber has made outside of open conflict. Even though Rias cannot see Saber's face anymore, Asia's expression of awe tells the story of what she is looking at.

"Asia. You were excommunicated, so you've done something against the one you worship. Even though you disagree with your god on this point, do you still find him worthy of your devotion? Do you still think he deserves your prayers, despite what happened to you being a part of what you are praising?"

Asia is silent for a long moment, and so is everyone else. Rias was upset when Saber seemed to advocate on Heaven's behalf at first, but the stranger's last questions are more neutral. Saber really just asked Asia if she is sure about what she wants, and didn't attempt to sway her to side against the devils.

It makes it annoyingly hard to stay mad at the interloper.

"Yes," comes the soft answer to break the spell of silence. Asia blinks a few times and then nods, a weak but genuine smile on her lips. "God may have turned me away, but... I still love him for all the good he's done for me before, and for others still. I can't pretend I don't."

"That's fine. Even if Heaven truly is deaf to your prayers, your soul will still be stronger if you practice what you believe in. Someday you may find something else you find more worthy, but until then you need not be ashamed of what you choose to worship."

Asia nods. Such unbridled happiness spills out from the girl that even the gathered devils can't help but smile a little at the conclusion. It's almost enough to make Rias forget about the consequences of this decision.

Almost.

"Well, I'm happy for Asia on a personal level," Rias states as she returns her other evil piece and closes their case. "But I'm afraid this leaves us back where we started, and with no solution at hand."

Asia and Issei share a troubled look at the reminder, but Saber simply takes a position at the other blonde's side once more and looks back with unbroken confidence.

"The solution to our circumstance has always been simple. Your suggestions were simply the alternatives you preferred the most."

"Oh?" Rias responds. A level of haughtiness returns to the redhead's demeanor at the accusation. "And what do you claim is the simplest solution?"

"Asia will stay with Issei, and I will stay with them both so I can protect my Master and my charge."

"Wh-what?" Issei asks loudly.

"S-stay with... with Issei?" Asia questions, surprised, but with a certain hopefulness in her expression.

 _'As if that's not just the solution **you** would prefer the most,'_ Rias gripes internally.

"I will remind you, keeping an unaffiliated agent like Asia around will probably bring trouble to Issei and my peerage. It would be irresponsible of me to allow it."

Saber causes Rias's opinion of her to rise a little when she doesn't immediately spout some nonsense like, "I guarantee nobody in your care will get hurt." As confident as the hybrid is, and as sure as she may be in her duty to protect Asia, the woman can't possibly guarantee to keep watch over every member of Rias's peerage at once.

Sadly, somebody on Rias's side is more than happy to take on the task.

"President, please let me take responsibility for this."

Rias, Asia, and even Saber herself all look to the young man with raised brows.

"Issei, did you not hear what I just said?" Rias asks back, though not without sympathy for the boy's position. The redhead did not put much stock in her newest servant's sudden friendship with a member of the Church at first, but she's watched the two together since their escape and has witnessed the unusual level of closeness and trust between the two recent strangers. "I can't allow you to be put at risk. Without the Gremory name's influence, outside agents will be free to target Asia for her power just like Raynare did. Knowing you, you'll definitely throw yourself into any trouble that comes after her."

"Asia might not have your family's protection, but I do. And Asia will have Saber. If they both st-st-stay with me, then the rest of you shouldn't get caught up in anything."

Issei was clearly still getting stuck on the idea of two beautiful young women moving in with him.

"What about your parents, Hyoudou?" Yuuto asks. "They could be targeted for harboring a wanted free agent like Asia, and Saber can't stay with both them all the time either."

Issei's teeth clench at the reminder, but no answer comes from him. It honestly hurts Rias to see her precious Pawn so conflicted, caught in a situation with no desirable answers left.

"I sensed this building was protected by a powerful Bounded Field," Saber interjects, her attention back on Rias again.

"A what?" the redhead asks, unfamiliar with the term.

Saber pauses for a moment, in thought, before she continues.

"A magical... ward," the woman states after she chooses the word she wants. "One that detects or keeps out invaders, I assume. Could the same protection be applied to Issei's home?"

"It could," Rias admits with a smirk. "Are you willing to sign a contract to pay for such a service?"

"Issei is your servant. Is it not your responsibility to oversee his safety?"

"My name alone gives Issei safety."

"Then why would this place need any more protection than just your name?"

Rias finds herself caught in another contest of wills with the mysterious stranger. Saber may only be half a dragon at most, but she easily matches their infamous level of stubbornness. Rias feels like she is in a clash with a fellow noble of the 72 pillars when she argues with this girl. The wards on the old school building exist more to keep away spies and thieves than assassins or abductors, but to admit Rias's servant doesn't deserve as much protection as her base of operations would be a great embarrassment. Unfortunately, so would admitting Saber is right.

"President," Issei interrupts with a deep bow. "Please, if you do this for my parents, well, I know I already owe you so much, but I'll owe you even more! And I promise I will find a way to pay you back!"

"A-and so will I!" Asia suddenly adds with urgency in her voice. The blonde joins Issei and lowers her head. "I can't do much, but if you ever get hurt then I will help!"

 _'These two... they make quite the strong-willed pair.'_

Is this a natural part of their chemistry, Rias wonders, or the influence of Saber's implacable confidence behind them?

"Oh? Now there's an interesting thought," Akeno suddenly says with a small giggle.

"What is, Akeno?"

"Issei lost out on his contract tonight, but Asia is offering her service as a healer in exchange for our wards. Why not make it official?"

 _'Not bad, Akeno. Not bad at all.'_

"Very well. Issei, you don't know how to set up our wards yet, but we can have a contract written between and Asia I. In exchange for access to the power of Twilight Healing whenever the peerage of Rias Gremory requires it, we will maintain our best protective spells on Asia's place of residence. In this case: the Hyoudou home. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful!" Asia agrees happily. "Thank you very much, Lady Gremory!"

"Yeah!" Issei agrees. "You're the best, Prez!"

"Prez?" Rias echoes, surprised to have her preferred title shortened.

"What? Oh," the boy reacts, as if he hadn't noticed what he said. "S-sorry, Prez. I mean, President! If you don't like it, I won't-"

"No, it's fine," Rias responds with a warm smile on her face. It's obvious Issei's mistake was made out of affection rather than callousness. "If I'm going to give such concessions tonight, it's nice to know at least my cute servant appreciates it."

"I do! I really do!" Issei declares. The boy turns to the exiled nun and the two clasp hands together in cheer. "We did it, Asia!"

"Yes!" the girl agrees. "I can't believe this is happening!"

"You both made this happen," Saber says. The blonde's words draw everyone's attention back to her, and they are all surprised to see she looks more relaxed than she had been. The woman's posture is less stiff, no longer coiled like a spring ready to take action at a moment's notice. Even the hybrid's facial features have relaxed, and she looks upon her two charges with a hint of fondness now. "I will watch over you for a time. For my duty to end, it is up to both of you to prove to me you no longer require my protection."

"I will," Issei promises. "I'll get stronger so I can protect Asia by myself!"

"Th-thank you, Issei. And you too, Saber," Asia says with an adorable blush. "But... I don't want anyone to get hurt protecting me."

Rias remembers the utter despair on the girl's face when she thought Freed was about to cut Issei in half.

"So I'll do my best too, to make sure no one has to get hurt for me again."

"That is as it should be," Saber replies with a nod. "Until that time comes, you can rely on me."

"I hope they can, Saber," Rias interrupts with a serious tone. As joyful as the occasion may seem to the three, the Gremory heiress still has a responsibility to see through. "I have decided to take a great risk in trusting your presence around my dear servants. I advise you take this privilege very seriously."

In her mind, Rias carefully lets off just the tiniest bit of pressure from the firm hold she has over her self-control. A dark red aura surrounds the redhead's form as the Power of Destruction, the ancient ability of the Bael bloodline Rias inherited from her mother, begins to seep out into the world. The heiress's eyes go cold as she stares at Saber, her red hair and clothes lifting and billowing in a wind only she experiences. Even the three servants who are aware of their King's true strength tense in the oppressive presence of the small sliver of the Power of Destruction she allows to leak out, for they know what could happen if Rias ever lost control and her blood ran rampant.

"If any harm befalls my peerage because of you, I will not forgive you."

Issei and Asia, both sensitive to the Power of Destruction's weight but unfamiliar with its nature, each break out into a cold sweat. It is a shame to scare the two like this, no doubt their fight or flight instincts have been locked up by what feels like the presence of the ultimate predator, but it is important for Saber to realize the gravity of her situation. Dragon blood or not, Rias's retribution against the stranger will not be stopped if her people are hurt.

Saber takes the change in atmosphere with great discipline. The woman's posture becomes tense once more, and her expression returns to its previous stoic look, but she does not quiver or flinch in response to the oppressive power Rias allows to spill forth. It is an honestly impressive display of fortitude.

Then something changes.

Just as Rias is surrounded by an aura of malicious power, suddenly Saber herself begins to shine in a defiant light. A thin outline of bright, nearly white but slightly blue energy thrums around the part-dragon's body. The power swells and recedes rhythmically, crackling with unspent force. Compared to Rias's power, which seeps out into the air at a constant rate, Saber's magic is still fully contained despite becoming visible to the naked eye.

Rias's aura is like an acid, eating away at everything in the world on an imperceptible level. In contrast, Saber's aura is like a bomb, ready to explode into a star at the moment of detonation.

This latest stare-down between the two noble women must feel like an eternity of tension to those present, but to Rias and Saber it is a simple conversation.

 _Hurt my people and I will destroy you._

 _Until my duty is fulfilled, I will not die._

Both women clamp down on their power nigh simultaneously once their exchange is complete. Most present weather the experience no worse off, but Issei finds himself gasping for a breath he didn't realize he'd been deprived of. Asia prays silently to compose herself, much to the mild headache of all devils present.

"I'm glad we could come to an understanding," Rias says with an easy smile.

"Wow," Issei mumbles to himself as he braces his hands on his knees to stay on his feet. "I knew Prez could be scary, but _wow_."

"Miss President is known in the Underworld as the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess," Yuuto explains with a carefully-held smile. Although the boy speaks to Issei, Saber can no doubt tell the words are for her. "She's also called the empress of annihilation by her peers."

"Wow," Issei says. "I didn't realize I was part of such an important group."

Saber's eyes do not waver at the news. Rias is suitably impressed.

"Well, now that that's all settled," Akeno steps forward to diffuse the tension. "Perhaps Asia and Saber should decide on their cover stories?"

"Cover stories?" Issei asks while he raises his head to look up at the senior student.

"Your parents will need an explanation for why two young ladies are going to be staying with them and their teenage son, Hyoudou-san," Yuuto explains with a smile. "We can hypnotize them into accepting the details, but we need to know what details to make them believe."

"Oh, like that morning," Issei mutters when he remembers how Rias easily explained away her presence in his bed when she had to spend a night to heal him. "Well, uh, what do you two want to say?"

"I have no preferences," Saber states, her hands now akimbo and her posture loose once more. Neither Rias nor Saber display any animosity after their last clash of wills, for they both know where the other stands. Saber turns to her fellow blonde and looks at her expectantly. "How would you like your life in Japan to be, Asia?"

"My life?" Asia asks. There is a certain awe in the girl's voice which betrays how she has never had the freedom to consider how she wants to live before.

"Do you have any goals?" Saber asks again, still oblivious to the girl's full backstory and circumstances.

"Ah, well, just... just to... have friends," Asia admits, embarrassed. "But, if I could..."

The Italian's green eyes wander over the members of Rias's peerage, but not to any of their faces. What Asia looks at is the uniform each of the students wear.

"Foreign transfers," Koneko suggests.

"Oh, do you want to come to school with us, Asia?" Issei asks, excited.

"If it would be alright," the girl admits. "I would love to try living like a normal girl."

"Then I will come with you," Saber declares. "To watch you both."

"You both speak Japanese fluently, so you shouldn't have any trouble," Akeno observes. "What other languages do you know?"

"I speak Italian and English as well," Asia answers. "I only learned Japanese recently, so please excuse me."

"I am fluent in all commonly-used modern languages," Saber states nonchalantly. Asia and Issei both look impressed.

Oddly enough, Rias can't help but notice how little pride Saber seems to take in what must have been a great investment of time, if not effort, given how many languages humans speak. The way the girl mentions her fluency is about as off-handed as a devil would explain their kind's natural ability to magically communicate in any and all languages: as something one just does, not a skill they learned.

"There should be no problems deciding where Saber comes from, then. I'll arrange the papers for two new transfer students," Rias declares as she shifts off the table and stands up. "My father is on the school board, so it won't be a problem to set up."

While Saber and Asia both discuss possible cover stories, Rias looks the pair over carefully. The devil takes note of the women's similarly slight builds, their short statures, their bright green eyes, their beautiful European features, and their blonde heads of hair. Rias takes in all these observations slowly, and a satisfied grin grows on her face when inspiration strikes.

"Actually," the King declares. "I think I know just the cover for these two."

* * *

 **FATE**

* * *

Issei Hyoudou sits at his desk and tries desperately not to fall asleep. Prez had managed to figure out a cover story for both Asia and Saber to attend Kuoh Academy while they live at Issei's house, but the work to set it all up took time. Issei couldn't help with paperwork or make his parents think they already agreed to house two foreign transfer students, so he was made to carry a bunch of new clothes and furniture to outfit the ladies' new rooms.

Why the two couldn't wait until tomorrow to start school and use today to settle in first is beyond Issei, but Prez was insistent on getting it all done as fast as possible.

Between all the moving and preparing the two new arrivals for their first day of classes, Issei couldn't have gotten more than a couple of hours' worth of sleep before his alarm started threatening to kiss him if he didn't wake up. Only the endurance of a devil body allowed the boy to drag himself out of bed. Well, that, and also the excited look on Asia's face.

Speaking of, two gorgeous women just moved into Issei's home. That is another thought worth waking up for.

Issei stifles a yawn and forces himself upright. The bell rings and the boy's various classmates move to their assigned seats to await the beginning of homeroom, none the wiser about the curve ball about to be thrown their way.

"I have an announcement for you today," the teacher says once class is underway. "It seems a mix-up in files prevented me from being made aware of this before now, but we have the honor of hosting two new transfer students in our class starting today, all the way from Italy."

As expected, the class explodes into whispers and gossip before they even see the new students in question. Issei hears more than one variation of "I wonder what Italy is like?" There is also the standard "I hope one is a cute boy/girl!" None of them are ready for this, the boy thinks.

The students quiet down at the teacher's call. The hallway door slides open and two of the prettiest girls most of the gathered teens have ever seen walk in. The two stand side-by-side at the front of the class, each one radiant in their own way. Issei already saw the pair this morning, but even he is still floored anew by the sight. The boy gives in to the feeling, and a stupid smile is soon plastered all over his face.

 _'The school uniform never disappoints.'_

The girls are both clad in matching outfits, each with the same alteration to the school's usual style. Kuoh Academy's plaid skirt and white socks combination adorns the pair's legs, but they both elect to wear dark sweater vests on top of their dress shirts instead of the typical corset and cape combination.

On the left stands a picture of refined elegance. The short girl's professional expression and pose, arms held together behind her back and lips held in a straight line, fails to obfuscate her natural charm in any way. Everyone present is enchanted.

On the right is an adorable bundle of nerves. The slightly taller girl's hands are clasped down in front of her, and her flushed face is wrapped up in a shy smile. The very epitome of cuteness instantly wins over everyone's hearts.

Issei may or may not have spent a lot of time in thought about ladies' good looks over the past several hours.

The resurgence of excited whispers doesn't take long to erupt once the two beauties finish their entrance. The teacher does his best to call his students' attention back to him.

"Alright class, settle down," the man says before he turns with a gesture toward the two objects of gossip. Issei gives the girls a wave and sees Asia perk up immediately, much to his delight. "Let's give a warm welcome to our newest Kuoh Academy students..."

Issei sighs, both in defeat and also happiness. Prez's cover story may be convenient, but it also makes the prospect of living with the two dream girls even more difficult for the healthy young man to handle. Issei can't help but think of some specific fantasies whenever it comes up.

"… Asia and Saber Argento."

Ah, well. The young man will learn to live with it.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thus ends chapter four.**

 **I'm not sure how this chapter will be received. I'm still practicing writing so I wanted to give an attempt at making this chapter-long conversation scenario work, and hopefully gain some experience from it.**

 **In Fate news, a version of Artoria Pendragon as a Ruler Class Servant came out since the last chapter of this story was released. I hope Issei won't be too disappointed to have missed his chance to summon a sexy bunny girl version of his new friend. Haha.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Captain Bell**


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